Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he’s the ‘lone-wolf’, transfer student. By night, he’s one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...
1. Prologue:   As his Last Smile Fades

**Author's Note**

Hello again everyone. Just a few explanations before I get to the story. (and I'm still working on that one-shot collection-didn't realise it would be so hard to write) First of all, this is an AU crossover between Digimon Frontier and Darker than Black. For those unfamiliar with Darker than Black, main parts will be explained in due time. But if I miss something, don't hesitate to ask, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Just don't ask about the Doll/Contractor stuff, because that's a later chapter.

Secondly, the title of this story, Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki, translates to _"When you recover something lost"_, and is partly named after one of the Darker than Black episodes.

Thirdly, this is the first time I'm trying something like this, so opinions will be welcome.

Fourthly, this prologue takes place eight years before the actual story (and the Darker than Black series), so keep that in mind.

Fifthly, there are a few changes with ... things. The twins are living together in Shibuya. You'll find out the parental situation later. Also, they, in this prologue, are eight years old. So in the actual story (starting from chapter one), they are sixteen.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon Frontier or Darker than Night. I'm just a weird girl who likes weird things. Ask my friends, or even my teachers if you don't believe me, they'll even tell you I'm weird (in a good way though).

Wow, that's a long pre-story note.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Prologue – As His Last Smile Fades**

It had been two years since the Hell Gate appeared. Two years since the natural sky vanished, only to replaced by the darkness that now spread over Tokyo, and perhaps beyond, littered with stars, that would sometimes shoot past at an occurrence at death.

Minomoto Kouji knew no more than that, and despite the dangers that had emerged with the Gate, there was something about it that intrigued him. The power it held, and even through the darkness of the night, he could see the distant glimmer of light that signified its spot of emergence.

And that power, across several districts in the very heart of Tokyo, at the point of the emergence of the Hell's Gate, was calling out to him.

'Kouji-kun?' He turned, seeing his elder twin standing in the doorway of their family home, a green short-sleeved jacket over his normal outfit to protect him from the slight chill. 'Why are you out here alone 'Touto-chan?'

'Just thinking. About the stars...and the Gate.'

'You think about them so much...does it feel like it's calling you?'

'What is?'

'The gate...or something in it.'

'I...yes, it does. But how did you know?'

"cause we're twins silly...'sides, I can feel it too...'

They smiled, identical twin smiles. The two brothers, arm in arm, stared out into the sky, past the shroud of darkness that hid the night sky, searching for what was calling them.

Kouji yawned, an action that was mirrored by his twin. 'Shall we go in, Kouichi-nii?' he asked, as the other rested his head upon his shoulder.

'Mmm...let's stay a little longer,' Kouichi mumbled into his brother's blue jacket.

Grinning more broadly, Kouji wrapped an arm around his elder twin. 'Alright,' he assented, closing his eyes. 'A little longer.' _Sleep peacefully big-brother. May no more demons plague your sleep._

'You think Kaa-san is watching over us 'Touto-chan?'

'I'm sure she is Ni-san.'

* * *

Kouji's eyes flew open only minutes later to his brother's scream, only to find one hand clutching the green short-sleeved jacket, still warm from his brother's body heat, but his brother no-where in sight.

'Kouichi!' he yelled into the darkness of the night. The only reply he received was another, more desperate scream.

'Kouichi!!' he screamed louder, running into the house, following the sound of the screams, and almost crashing into his stepmother, Satomi, as he ran around a corner.

He could hear his stepmother's footsteps behind him as he ran into a room at the end of the hallway. His brother's room, since he had come to live with them once more. Their parents had divorced when the twins were two, his mother, Kimura Tomoko, taking the elder twin with her to her family home in Shinjuku. Unfortunately, her father died the same year, of a stroke, her mother only living a year more before she too passed away. Tomoko and Kouichi lived alone after that, Kouichi never knowing about his father nor brother. She worked hard to support him; too hard, as eventually she pushed herself too far, her already heart giving out.

Upon her death, Kouichi was taken to his father...to a family he barely remembered. Minomoto Kousei had remarried during the three years they were apart, and like his ex-wife, kept the existence of his twin from Kouji.

It was strange at first, Kousei having to own up to the secrets he had kept, and the lies he had told to his younger son, as well as the twins having to live together after three crucial years apart. But it all worked out in the end. Mostly, except for the elder twin's occasional night terrors. But that was understandable; he had seen the death of three people close to him in his young life...but perhaps it was something else that plagued him.

And now...

Kouichi's room was a complete mess, books, papers and clothes scattered about. The window was open, curtains fluttering, blowing the lighter objects around. Unrecognizable shadows loomed on the walls: monstrous shapes, looking as though they were ready to devour anything. Already, the mortar of the walls was crumbling behind the shadows, the foundations of the room weakening. It was only a matter of time before the roof collapsed.

And a small trickle of blood ran along the ground.

'Kouichi!' he screamed desperately, as the panals of the roof came tumbling down. Satomi grabbed Kouji's shoulders and dragged him out through the hallway, bumping into her husband on the way.

He looked scared, which just scared the other two further. Kousei was a man that feared few things, and the fact that he felt fear know served to magnify the danger.

'There's a Contractor here,' he whispered.

That word meant nothing to Kouji, but Satomi paled several shades at the statement.

'A Contractor? What do they want?'

'They do not always want something. Most kill for no reason at all.'

_Kill? Kouichi-nii dead?_

Tears spilled from Kouji's eyes at that, as his parents dragged him to another part of the house. Cracks were now starting to form on the outer ceiling and walls, the caved-in room putting a dent into the house's foundations.

That didn't matter to Kouji though. All that mattered that his brother was gone, gone to where his real mother was. He never paused to consider the fact that he may still be alive; it seemed quite improbable, since the screams had come from the room, and the only way out would have been the window. The window leading to a world where a lone eight year old would not last long at all with the Contractors and their Dolls on the loose.

Kousei stopped suddenly, causing Satomi to nearly walk into him. 'The Contractor,' he hissed between his teeth, shielding his wife and remaining child behind him, as he faced the masked man before him. He, like Kousei, was not alone; it seemed as though he had brought a doll along with him, one who was responsible for the shadows looming above them.

Kousei shoved Satomi and Kouji back into the collapsing hallway, just as the entrance collapsed, trapping himself in the dining room with the Contractor and Doll pair.

Alone, and powerless, it was a short fight, and neither Doll nor Contractor had any inhibitions of killing an innocent man. And the two were soon set their task on the two that remained. Or rather the Contractor did; the Doll was simply a medium, once a human, now simply a mere shadow, following his master's orders.

It seemed as though darkness was the Doll's medium, very bad luck for both Kouji and Satomi, as the sky was full of it, as was the house, only a singular bulb still lit. Fading into the darkness, he reappeared a moment later in the crumbling hallway, blocking any means of escape, as the darkness descended upon them.

Kouji squeezed his eyes closed. Even at the age of eight, he feared the darkness, not sleeping without his nightlight, even though he was strong in almost everything else: academics, sport, emotions... Whimpering in fear and grief, he begged the light, that flickering light bulb, to somehow help him. To become a barrier, a shield...anything to prevent the onslaught of darkness that was about to descend on them.

'Enough of this! Identify yourself, Doll!' someone yelled, and suddenly, lightning filled the hallway (or what remained of it). Arms grabbed the eight year old, lifting him up, away from the destroyed home, and his dead parents.

The Doll didn't follow, even as the Contractor yelled from the other side.

'I am Dusk,' was all he said. 'Remember that.'

* * *

Kuro no Shinigami stared at the boythat he, with his sister, had just rescued from the ruins of his home. Not any boy either, but a Contractor, one unaware of his power over light molecules.

'W-who are y-you?' the boy stuttered. That was understandable, after all, he had gone through quite alot in the last few minutes.

'I am called many names,' the masked man replied. 'I am called Kuro no Shinigami by some, the Black Reaper. But my allies call me Hei. And what's your name child?'

'Minomoto Kouji.'

'Well, Minomoto Kouji, you feel the call of the Gate?'

His brother had asked him the same thing. 'Yes...but how did you know?'

'The Gate calls those who have a special kind of power,' he explained slowly, so the child could understand. 'You have that power, and now the enemy has killed your parents. You survived, because you have power over light particles, and were able to form a shield. But you must learn to wield your power. We, the Syndicate, can help you with that, if you join us.'

'But...what about Nii-san? Is he dead too?' The way those blue eyes looked up at Hei was adorable, and even the Black Reaper's hardened heart had to soften at the sight. 'I do not know what happened to your brother,' he replied as kindly as he could, 'but I know he is not dead. There were only two bodies in the house. He's still out there somewhere.'

"Tou-san and Kaa-san?'

'They are dead. I'm sorry.'

He was silent. It was too much for his eight year old heart to handle, and he fell into a fit of crying into the shirt of a complete stranger. Despite this, Hei held him close, knowing the bond between the brothers was likely to be as strong as the bond he shared with his sister, who at the time was scouting the area.

'I have a sister too,' he said softly. 'Her name is Bai, and she is the reason I joined the Syndicate. Not all Contractors are evil; those in the Syndicate strive for peace.'

Bai, also known as BK-201, arrived, closing the door of their temporary hideout behind her. 'No sign of them,' she sighed, going over to her brother. 'They're gone.'

'No,' the boy in Hei's arms whimpered. 'They killed them...'Tou-san, and 'Kaa-san...and Kouichi-nii...'

'You're brother's not dead kid,' the Contractor that had just saved him cut in. 'He's still out there, and we're going to help you find him.'

'You will?' he asked, pulling away from Hei slightly, his eyes filling with hope.

Bai nodded, and ruffled the other's hair in a caring manner completely foreign to other Contractors, but normal for her. 'We know how important family is.'

'And those others? Will they pay for what they have done?'

Hei nodded grimly. 'Of course.'

He stepped back slightly, supporting himself and standing straight. 'Will you teach me to control my power, so I can avenge my family and find my brother?'

The two nodded.

Kouji paused. He knew he was treading dangerous waters, accepting an invitation into an organisation he knew near nothing about. But what other choice did he have? No family, no home, no guidance...these strangers were the only people he had left right now.

He bowed his head slightly, expression hardening, and said the words that changed his life forever. 'I will join the Syndicate.'

* * *

**Post Author's Notes**

**Japanese Words and Phrases**

'_Touto-chan/Otouto-chan:_ younger brother

_nii/Ni-san/Onii-san: _older brother

'_Kaa-san/Okaa-san: _Mother (note: Kouji also calls his stepmother this, since she is the one who essentially raised him)

'_Tou-san/Otou-san: _father

**Notes:**

Contractors: individuals who have gained power due to the presence of the Heaven's and Hell's gate (will be explained later). They are, unlike dolls, actually capable of experiencing emotion, but these emotions don't impact on their judgement. Many Contractors are part of criminal organizations and are ruthless assassins, which is what Kousei was referring to. More about Contractors will be explained in later chapters.

Dolls: emotionless "mediums" created to mimic the forms of humans. They are essentially programmed to be incapable of emotion, but are able to act outside their initial programming. They are only powerful in the presence of their own medium.

The ending: If your thinking that Kouji's decision is kinda hasty, just remember that he just lost his family, and these two people who saved him from the rubble and the Contractor/Doll pair are the only people he has now to help him. And he's still at that age where kindness plays a large role in convincing him, and both Hei and Bai are kind in nature (at this point in time anyway).


	2. The Fire that Burns Bright Part 1

**Author's Note**

Sorry it took so long to update. But I finally got to watch Darker than Black. I had actually written the prologue without seeing anything and now I'm only up to episode 6. Pitiful ne?

Anyway, in terms of time context, this chapter takes place a night after episode 4 of the first season of Darker than Black, but if you haven't seen it, doesn't matter since I've written the explanations needed at the end.

Another thing, I mention a group called the Association in here, but it remains essentially a mystery till towards the end, a mystery which will wind up being largely unresolved. As such, I've also planned a side-story to this, **_Yami no shingenchi_ **(The Center of the Darkness), which explores the background and motives of the Association and some of its members, as well as what happened to Kouichi. I was just wondering whether I should complete this story before posting it, or write the two concurrently. Since I couldn't really decide, I'd appreciate your opinions as to when you want to read it.

Once again, I apologize for the late update, but please enjoy, and thank you to everybody who read and reviewed.

* * *

** Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 1 – The Fire that Burns Bright (Part 1)**

A dark figure darted through the alleyways of Shibuya, Tokyo. The sky was, as it had been for the last ten years, a blanket of black where only the stars of the contractors shone. The light they provided was minimal, providing ample cover as it allowed him to slip through the shadows unseen.

Or not quite unseen, as he was relentlessly pursued by another figure, smaller, but far more agile. Scowling, the older man ducked into a final corner, before slipping into a well worn battle stance as his opponent came into a view.

'A child?' he questioned, finding himself staring down a sixteen year old boy. His features were hidden by the darkness, only cold blue eyes glistening in the faint light.

Said 'child' chose not to answer. The man shrugged uncaringly, allowing the pale blue light that signified a contractor's power to envelop him.

'You kill so often without regard,' the boy murmured, emotionlessly watching him. 'Despite that you were once human...'

The other ignored him, as the ground beneath the two was suddenly replaced by a swamp, acting as a suction cap, dragging all it could into its abyss. It seemed, however, to affect neither; it was one's power, the other...

'Predictable.' The teen rolled his eyes. 'Invulnerability is a great asset, though I would not have expected you to know that. After all, the few who survive a meeting with me are not ones to readily give out that information.'

The older contractor raised an eyebrow at this, suppressing the trilling fear he could feel. 'Shiro no Ookami?'

A light smirk graced the other's lips at the reaction. 'It seems as though my reputation precedes me. Which then brings us to the point as to why you're still alive.'

'You need to hurry,' a female voice suddenly echoed from the communicator in his ear. 'The police are 4 minutes away.'

'Which direction?' he asked, softly, so his opponent did not hear.

'North.'

He turned to the other, walking forward through the swamp as if it were solid ground. 'I don't have time to play around,' he said coldly, staring down the other man. 'So you're going to tell me what I want to know.'

The other refused.

His own body was suddenly enveloped in the same pale blue the other had used, but the power itself was unseen to the human eye. Its results however were quite apparent.

The other contractor groaned, pressing both hands to his temples as pain built up in his mind.

'Enjoy it?' he asked, letting no emotion enter his voice. 'The brain is an organ easily confused. The pressure will continue to amount till it inevitably explodes, hence shutting down all your mental processes...in about four minutes, give or take.'

The cold blue eyes stared down the other as his shaking knees gave out beneath him. 'All right...' he gasped. 'Anything-'

'To live? Indeed. A contractor's duty is after all primarily to oneself as opposed to any degree of honour or pride or duty.'

He stared into the other's brown eyes, both pairs hardened for the same, yet different reasons. 'Then tell me the intentions of the Association, and the location of its headquarters.'

'I don-n't know,' he stuttered as the pain in his skull continued to intensify. 'I'm just a gru-nt, on-nly the high-er up know-'

'Then you're useless to me,' the other stated flatly, intensifying the onslaught. Soon enough, the other man fell to his side, life vanishing from his eyes as a star far above them vanished.

'Yin. Status?' he asked into the communicator, stepping away, the faint dripping of water reaching his ears.

'Two minutes,' the girl's monotone reached his ears. 'West path is empty.'

'Roger. Out.'

The boy darted out the alleyway, taking the west path as he saw the flickering lights to the north. Behind him, a small puddle of water glimmered in the faint light as the observer spirit of the female doll vanished from it.

* * *

'You find anything?' a male voice questioned him as he settled into the lone couch in his apartment.

'No,' the other scowled, annoyed at his lack of progress. 'Just another grunt.'

'Dispatch him?'

'Of course.' There was a small sense of regret in his voice, something easily detected by the other.

'They are no longer human Kouji-kun,' the person on the other end of the line sighed. 'The contract and their power have warped them into shells which exist only to kill.'

'That's not true,' Minamoto Kouji whispered. 'I refuse to believe that.'

The other sighed again, but did not argue. 'Get some sleep Kouji-kun. You're starting at your new school tomorrow.'

'Hai.' And with a definite click, the line disconnected.

He never liked returning to his apartment after a kill, though he was luckier than most in the aspect of having no remuneration, the deaths of his parents and the disappearance of his brother having compensated for that.

It had been eight years since that day, and still, he searched for his brother. The Syndicate had managed a lock on the Doll called Dusk five years ago, tracing him back to an association of which little was known about. Thus, it was dubbed, for simplicity's sake, the Association, though its happenings still remained a relative mystery. The Syndicate, due to the potential risks, had assigned a team to the case, one Kouji was immediately assigned to due to the correlation between the Association and his family's deaths/disappearance.

That had, almost immediately, made him a target of this Association, or even more so than he had already been, along with anyone else assigned to that particular team. It seemed, however, that their numbers rapidly dwindled as the Association's did nothing, always grunts who were given little information sent forward to assassinate, only to eventually be assassinated themselves.

It was always the same thing. Few of the team remained, and the Syndicate were hard-pressed in other areas, and thus could not dispatch anyone new. And for all their effort, they had made little to no progress. All they knew as of yet was their next target.

He got up of the couch, shuffling around in a drawer before withdrawing a manila folder, from which he extracted a profile.

'Kanbara Takuya,' he muttered to himself, staring at the picture of the brown eyed brunette clipped onto the stack of papers. One by one, he scanned through them, filing the most important information away for later recollection.

'Sixteen years old, senior student.' He paused at a certain paper, an eyebrow shooting up, before he sighed. Observation missions sometimes turned out to be rather bothersome. Especially in cases such as this where it would take minimal effort. After all, the two were not only in the same year level, but had the exact same schedule.

_The only thing that makes him worthy of investigation is his previous association with Tanaka and his daughter as of yet_, he mused._ Tanaka, who was the sole survivor during the emergence of the Hell Gate ten years ago. Killed last night. And __Kashiwagi Mai, a Moratorium turned Contractor, drafted into another division of the Syndicate._

His eyes flickered to the open window as he set down the file._It is a rather rare occurrence, for a Moratorium to become a full Contractor, but it is not impossible. However, those seeds he had used to suppress his daughter's pyro abilities may have done more than what Hei-sempai found out from the Professor._

_After all, the Association wouldn't specifically target him without reason. Especially since it appears that he is not a target for assassination.

* * *

_

Later that night, as he prepared for bed, his thoughts drifted, as they always did, back to the nature of contractors and the power he had been forced to accept for his own survival.

_Contractors feel emotion_, he thought sadly as he nestled himself into the sheets. _They only feel what emotion has been programmed into them, like how I can still feel sadness for Okaa-san and Otou-san...and Kouichi-nii. But they are almost always suppressed...it makes us seem more like killing machines than human beings...after all, despite everything, we are still human._

_But even that is not wholly true; some of us who kill have no relish from it, yet we are forced to do so anyway._

_Or at least until I find him...then maybe we can be free..._

He rolled over, burying his face into his pillow, before closing his eyes and letting himself drift into a commonly restless sleep.

* * *

'Takuya! Get up!'

The addressed boy shifted slightly in the warm blankets, away from the light as his mother yanked open the curtains. 'Five more minutes,' he mumbled sleepily, unwilling to leave the comfort of his bed for another school day.

'No,' his mother snapped, as she did every morning, snatching the covers off her son and causing him to blink blearily up at her. 'Up now, or you'll be late.'

Kanbara Takuya sat up, blinking sleep away from his eyes as his mother tossed his uniform at him before leaving to wake his brother.

Grumbling as per usual, he grabbed the articles of clothing, including the hat and goggles perched on the bedpost, and shuffled into the bathroom adjacent, stifling a yawn as he went.

It only took a few minutes for him to be ready, knowing that otherwise, he would be stuck without breakfast. And if there was one thing he could not live without, it was his mother's home-made Tamagoyaki, the Japanese-style eggroll that was one of his favourite foods.

He gathered his school books scattered around the messy room and stuffed them into the red backpack, matching the red short-sleeved jacket he wore over an orange shirt and brown khaki pants. The cap was a different shade of brown, upon which square goggles perched, the hat to some extent taming the wild mass of brown hair.

He sighed, dragging the back pack after him as he closed his bedroom door. School was definitely not his favourite place to be, homework and boredom were to reasons for such.

_And today is bound to be just as boring_, he moaned inwardly.

Little did he know how wrong he was.

* * *

The first sign of something wrong was the tearful faces of the middle-school girls as soon as he walked through the gates. Having not watched the news the day before, he had no clue as to the deaths that had occurred, one of the deceased being Konaka Yuka, an eighth grader from their school, while another, Kashiwagi Mai, went missing after her father's murder.

Of course, having not watched the news, he only found out all of this through snippets of random conversations, mostly between people who had little to no tact when it came to dealing with such matters.

Regardless, due to the gossip, he was relatively up to speed, including knowledge about a fire that almost burnt down the school while he slept through lab, by the time the bell went for form assembly, and he slipped into his seat beside an old friend, Orimoto Izumi, as their form teacher started the role.

She was dressed in her usual attire, sleeveless lavender hooded jacket, unzipped just like Takuya's, and skirt of the same colour, with a blue and white spaghetti striped t-shirt under it and a matching lavender head on top on the long golden hair.

'Someone seems more awake today than usual,' she teased, eyeing the brunette.

He shrugged. 'Too much talk going around.' He then affirmed his presence the teacher as he called out the roll, before turning back to the blonde.

She nodded in understanding and didn't push the subject, instead switching to something new. 'You know, there's supposed to be a new student today. Apparently transferred from China.'

He raised an eyebrow, interested. 'How do you know?'

'Oh, I have my ways,' she answered mysteriously, turning back to the teacher to acknowledge her presence.

He, an elderly man of about forty or so years with greying black hair and a brown suit, finished marking the attendance, before standing to address the class.

'As some of you may already know,' here, he paused to stare at Izumi, who returned the gaze in an innocent fashion, before continuing. 'We will have a new student joining us today. He has transferred from China, and so I hope you all will make him feel welcome.' At this point, he glared at a small huddle of boys at the back with little visible effect, a group which was known for causing trouble.

Giving it up as a lost cause, he turned to the door. 'You can come in now,' he said kindly.

The door slid open, and a black-haired boy stepped into the room. He was dressed in a yellow t-shirt and grey pants, over which he wore a navy blue jacket, and a striped bandana held the long ponytail out of his face, especially the cold blue eyes that surveyed the classroom.

The girls squealed, before whispering excitedly to one another, excited at the appearance of another eligible date. Despite that the boy seemed to have no intention of dating anyone, as assumed by the annoyed look he gave the chatting girls before he came up to the front of the classroom.

'Class,' he introduced. 'I'd like you all to meet Minamoto Kouji.'

He bowed obligatorily, although rather stiffly, as the teacher turned back to survey the class.

'You can sit beside Kanbara-kun,' he said. 'Takuya, stand up so Minamoto-kun knows who you are.'

Takuya stood, and Kouji came over to slide into the empty seat beside him. For a moment, their eyes met, icy blue clashing with a warm brown, before he broke eye contact and faced front, as the teacher spoke again.

'Kanbara-kun. I trust you'll show Minamoto-kun around?'

He grinned. Opportunity for a new friend. 'Sure Sensei,' he said happily, not noticing Kouji's irritated stare.

_Keep an eye of him?_ He thought, annoyed. _Looks like it's going to be harder to avoid him..._

'Minamoto-kun?' He snapped his head up as the bell echoed, accompanied by the voice of the brunette who was supposed to assist him. 'What class do you have?'

'Economics,' he muttered flatly.

'Cool,' the other said cheerfully, not noticing the lack of emotion. 'So do I. Come, I'll take you there.'

He grabbed the other and dragged him along, it taking Kouji a moment or two to regain his composure, accompanied with another where he yanked his arm out of the other's grasp, fixating him with an icy glare.

'Come on,' the brunette simply said, having stopped a few feet away, before continuing. 'Don't want Tanaka-sensei being mad at ya on your first day buddy.'

He scowled at that. He didn't have friends, nor did he want them. The only reason he was going to have to put up with the kid was because of his assigned mission...but that didn't mean he would allow himself to get attached in any way.

He wouldn't make that mistake again.

* * *

By later that week, the talk about the fire, the murders and the new student had died down, the last with the help of the said student himself, the cold, unfeeling attitude leaving most people to label his as the 'lone-wolf' type and as such, leave him alone, save a few, which to both his relief and chagrin included Kanbara Takuya. Said boy had asked multitudes of question during the few days that had passed, but, unfortunately for him, had only received one piece of information for all his troubles.

Takuya let a small grin grace his face when he remembered his minor victory.

_'Yamatone-sensei said you transferred from China. So how come you speak Japanese so fluently?'_

_ 'I lived in Japan till I was eight.'_

_ 'Huh? Then why-'_

_ 'Pay attention Kanbara.'_

And that had been all he had gotten out of the tight-lipped boy.

Currently, the two were in biology, Kouji staring blankly forward while the brunette rested his forehead on his arms while listening to the teacher drone on about photosynthesis, the plants she was discussing happily absorbing nutrients by the windowsill. As her usual, he found his mind wandering, not fighting it but simply allowing his mind to slip into a haze...

Kouji's concentration was suddenly disrupted. In fact, the entire class' was as the potted plant on the windowsill suddenly caught ablaze.

The teacher shrieked something about her precious plants as the tongue of flame progressed along the other plants that lined it, the automated sprinklers turning on at the smoke that was beginning to rise.

The students panicked as the blaze consumed the plants, carefully controlled so that it destroyed nothing more. All except Kouji, who could watch all hell burst lose and not bat an eyelash had it nothing to do with the whereabouts of his brother, and Takuya, who simply stared hypnotically at the flames with blank brown eyes.

* * *

'Boss?'

'Yes?'

'The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has detected the emergence of a new star.'

'Nani?'

* * *

**Japanese words and phrases:**

_Shiro no Ookami_ – White wolf

_-kun_ – a suffix one normally uses to call a young boy (or sometimes a young girl with a boyish name) who they are close to, like a friend

_Hai_ – yes

_Sempai_ – upperclassman (term of respect)

_Sensei_ – teacher

_Nani_ – what?

**Notes:**

The Association: you'll find out soon enough.

_...a star far above them vanished_: the stars represent contractors, when one dies, their star goes out.

..._water dripping_: Yin is a doll, and her medium is water, therefore in contact with water she is able to send out her observer spirit to...well, observe. Thus, she keeps members of her group informed. Kouji isn't actually a part of her group, but she helps him out because of Hei, who is in her group.

_Kashiwagi Mai_: A middle school student and the daughter of Tahara Kōzō, the only survivor from Hell's Gate. There is a significant emotional detachment between Mai and her father and Mai chose to adopt her deceased mother's maiden name. As a result of her father's attempts to subdue her Contractor powers, she became a Moratorium but eventually reverts to a Contractor. Her power allows her to create and manipulate fire. Her remuneration takes the form of humming a song. She seems to think of Hei as an older brother. She even calls him _Onii-san_.

Yuka was a friend of Mai's and accidently killed along with her father when Mai was unable to control her powers during a blaze she sets off in her panic, while Tahara (Mai's father) is killed by a contractor called Luco which Hei then kills before Mai becomes a contractor herself.

_Moratorium: _An intermediate between a Contractor and a Doll. Moratoria appear to be people with Contractor powers who do not require remuneration as part of their power. Unlike Contractors, they do not have control of their powers, shifting into a hypnotic state of unconsciousness as they use them. Moratoria also suffer from severe mental trauma as a result of their power. According to Mao, the chance of a Moratorium morphing into a Contractor is near zero, but possible.

_...blank brown eyes:_ a Moratorium goes into a hypnotic state while their powers are active and they are essentially unaware of what is happening around them

_National Astronomical Observatory of Japan_ - monitors and provides information on the actions of the Stars of Contractors in the "false sky"


	3. The Fire that Burns Bright Part 2

**Author's Note**

This chapter continues from the last one. With the initial Darker than Black Episodes, they are like mini-stories spread across two-episode segments and thread together about half-way through the season. Same thing here, but not necessarily two parts, since I can't squish it in, so the lengths may differ. This one's three-parts.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 2 – The Fire that Burns Bright (Part 2)**

_'Aren't the stars pretty Takuya-kun?' the brown haired girl giggled, pointed at the gleaming pinnacles of light._

_ 'Hai Mai-chan,' her companion agreed, sharing the grin that spread lazily on her pretty features. Or 'pretty' as a six year old boy could define it._

_ 'They say the stars are the souls of spirits that are left in this world,' Mai continued softly. 'When a star falls, then someone's time has run out. When a new one flares to life, a new soul has entered the world.'_

_She then laughed again, pointing at a star that had just shimmered into existence. 'See there, Takuya-kun? Maybe that's your new sibling?'_

_Unfortunately, he didn't get a good look at the star, before it vanished, along with the rest of the sky.

* * *

_

Takuya blinked, suddenly finding himself being dragged by the wrist by a certain transfer student. Slightly disorientated, it took a moment or two for the past and present to reconnect...well, to an extent at least; given the circumstances, there was still a good ten minute gap in between what he last remembered, and now.

'Hey,' he exclaimed, the surprise catching up to him. 'Slow down. Where are we going? And why for that matter? What happened to biology? Why-?'

'Stop asking questions,' the other snapped, colder than usual and not slowing his pace.

So an extremely confused and dissatisfied Takuya was forced to resign himself to being dragged along.

* * *

'This is interesting,' Ishizaki Kanami mused. 'It's the same Messier Code as the Moratorium from before, number wise, yet the letters prefixed to it indicate the power to be also associated with another Galaxia.'

'What other Contractors do we know with the same prefixed letters?' Kirihara Misaki asked, rubbing her temples slightly with the Contractor related cases increasing over the past few weeks.

'You should really consider that vacation Misaki,' Kanami laughed, inputting the necessary search functions before answering the question. 'A few surviving ones. There is one whose star is constantly active but the Contractor associated with it has never been sighted: LW-201, LW-202 who is also known as Shiro no Ookami-'

'All right,' I can see the entire list is going to take some time. How much in total?'

'Ten active stars, but it looks like they may be getting a new member...'

* * *

'Hey, that's my house,' Takuya exclaimed, though quietly as the fact that they were hiding in a bush called for relative silence.

'No duh.' The other rolled his eyes, but kept his voice at the same level, blue eyes searching for something.

'Umm, why are we at my house?' Takuya, despite his better judgement, asked. 'And how do you know where I live anyway? And why are we hiding in the bush-hey, what's the police doing here?'

'What's with you and questions?' Kouji growled. 'Shut up. I'll explain when everyone's out of danger.' _Or as out of danger as we can get_, he thought afterward, though he didn't voice his sentiments.

'What danger?'

However, he didn't receive an answer as the other's attention was focused on the police surrounding the comfortable looking home.

_I wonder how they manage to always get a step ahead. Not that it matters in the end; this is a war between contractors, and even with those that aren't, they are hopelessly outmatched against machines that stop at nothing to achieve their own ends...

* * *

_

'Is there a reason _we're_ on surveillance,' an officer growled, readying his gun and hidden in the shadows the building cast.

'Well of course,' a second rolled his eyes. 'You think the higher-ups would want this?'

'It doesn't look like there's anything dangerous in here.'

'It's a Moratorium,' said another. 'Or a contractor. Information's unclear.'

'Order's crystal though,' a third pointed out. 'Terminate the target.'

'Which is?' the first asked.

'Sixteen year old brunette,' the second explained. 'Kanbara Takuya.'

* * *

The moment the two in the bushes heard that, they were in action, though one was faster than the other. Said brunette's mouth opened in indignation, but he immediately shut it as the boy beside him was suddenly outlined in an unearthly blue.

The police who had been readying their guns for assassination were attracted by the glow, as were the two occupants currently inside the kitchen (as the bush was conveniently in view of the wide window), so as it was, all saw his eyes turn a crimson red, though only the Kanbara's saw the aftermath, as the other minds were suddenly besieged by Contractor power, and their own mental functions turned erratic.

And as Kouji stood and the light around him faded, Takuya was left gaping in the bushes at the dead bodies that littered his lawn.

* * *

'Hmm...there's activity from LW-202,' Kanami noted, reading the new alert which had popped up on her screen. 'Brief though.'

Then she noted the strain on her friend and laughed lightly. 'Come on Misaki, lighten up.'

When the advice was borne on deaf ears due to the untimely arrival of the news of the dispatch of certain officers, namely those tracing the new signal, she sighed.

'Really think you need that vacation...'

* * *

'You're a Contractor?' But it was awe laced beneath the shock, not fear and hatred like the other had suspected.

'You're not afraid?' he asked, a hint of wonder in his voice.

'Are you kidding me? After you saved my life like that? 'sides, I always thought you were cool. And Contractors are human, 'tou-san always said so, other people are just prejudice...'

Kouji just shook his head as they both left the shelter of the bushes. 'I don't know whether to call you brave or stupid right now.'

The brunette gave one of his cheesiest grins. 'I'll go for the former.'

'Don't push your luck.' The other turned back, but the light smirk that played on his lips told him that they were reaching a new level in the relatively new association, despite how much Kouji detested the word.

Then they both whipped around as Takuya's parents burst from the house, the bandana wearing boy drawing back instinctively as the woman swept his son into her embrace while the man stared solidly at the scene.

'How about someone explain all this? Inside?'

Then three pairs of brown eyes turned to stare at the new transfer student in search for the explanation, who himself groaned silently to himself. He was never good at explaining things. Especially when he didn't know all the details himself.

Though situations did not just naturally adjust themselves to one's strengths and wants. Thus he would just have to deal with it.

* * *

'I was sent to keep an eye on a target of a society whom we call the Association,' Kouji explained once they were all seated in the Kanbara's comfortable living room.

'Who are-?' Takuya began to ask, somehow missing the fact that he was a target of a potentially dangerous organisation, only to be cut off by his father.

'They are a group of Contractors and Contractor-related persona whose objectives are unclear,' Hiroaki explained. 'They cause us a heap of trouble as the lower grunts who never know anything are always sent out, and even then, mostly dispatched by LW-202, and sometimes other Contractors, before we can intercept them.'

He looked knowingly at the guest as he said that, as though he had already guessed the other's identity. Which he had, as the next question demonstrated. 'That is your Messier Code, is it not?'

'It is,' Kouji nodded. 'Though I was not aware that it was that well known.'

'It is not,' the other assured. 'I work for the Public Security Bureau, Foreign Affairs Section 4. Our department's main focus is Contractor-related affairs.'

He was interrupted by his cell phone, so he graciously excused himself to take the call.

'Hello,' he said into the speaker. 'Yes I'm...But-...oh, I see...Hai. I'll keep an eye out.'

The rapid conversation ended as he disconnected the line, then frowned and stood. 'Chief Kirihara just informed me that a Moratorium star was discovered moments ago, and a squad was sent to the local school, where a fire broke out again, to investigate. However, they currently have no information on the whereabouts of this Moratorium.'

The remaining three frowned as well, but it was his son that spoke. 'So then, who were-?' He pointed out the window, before gaping at the clothes scattered, bodiless.

The others turned as well, and the Kanbaras shared a collective blink, before Takuya spoke again. 'What happened to the bodies?'

'Rapid decomposition,' Kouji stated flatly, standing as well.

Hiroaki nodded vaguely. 'Though that makes an autopsy very difficult. Unless they're carrying identification. Shall we look?'

The addressed shrugged and followed the elder male out the door, leaving Takuya and his mother seated in the living room.

* * *

His mother sighed, rather sadly, as her husband led the stranger out. 'Your father's pleased,' she noted offhand. 'Minamoto-kun there proved him right. And you.'

He nodded. 'They are humans. Even if they have power others see as inhumane.'

'He seems...well, interested in us,' she commented. 'Does he live alone? He does go to your school, doesn't he?'

'Well, yes,' Takuya replied. 'But all I got out of him was that he used to live here till he was eight, before moving to China, and then transferring back a few weeks ago. He's the 'lone-wolf' type, so he doesn't talk much.'

'Mmm...' She didn't say anything else, which prompted her son to ask. ''kaa-san, why do they think I'm a Moratorium?'

She didn't know, however was spared by the rearrival of Kouji. 'You set the Biology lab on fire,' he explained in his usual monotone. 'And had a ten minute gap in your mental functionins.'

'Huh?' he blinked confused, as his mother tilted her head downwards in worry and slight guilt. 'How do you know that?'

He rolled his eyes, though in a teasing manner. 'It only took you five minutes to realise I was dragging you,' he quipped, though his tone remained flat, and unfazed. 'You didn't even realise your hair was on fire-'

That comment sent the brunette into a panic; the wild mass of brown upon his head was his pride and joy, and as such, it took him a precious few seconds to realise it was a joke, a fact that both parents found rather amusing, and even managed to bring the light smirk back to Kouji's face.

Though that all faded once Yuriko questioned her husband as to what they had discovered.

'Certainly not members of the police,' the older man shrugged. 'Some of the equipment they carried was...incriminating. So that leaves either the Association or another Contractor-related group, the second of which is highly unlikely.'

'And grunts again,' the other sighed, annoyed, flopping almost bonelessly onto the couch. 'Carrying nothing, and most likely knowing nothing either.'

All three Kanbaras noted the sudden tension, but all wisely decided it was not in their place to ask, for several, all obvious, reasons.

Then Takuya suddenly brought the conversation back to the original issue. 'Wait a sec,' he exclaimed, something finally registering. 'Are you all saying I'm a Moratorium? How?'

His parents looked at each other, then at the Contractor, who shrugged, though neither could tell whether that be because of ignorance or something else.

Then Yuriko sighed again and explained. 'You remember Mai-chan, don't you? She used to live next door to us before she moved.'

Takuya nodded, and she continued. 'Well, when you were six, the sky over Tokyo vanished and was replaced with the sky we see now. At the time, I had just given birth to Shinya, and-'

'-and you and Mai-chan were outside watching the stars,' his father took over. 'Later, we found out from her parents that she had developed attributes of a contractor, namely pyrokinetic abilities, which Tahara-san suppressed by using the seeds of a plant he found at the Gate. You had also showed similar signs, but they inexplicably vanished.'

'Flowers from the Hell's Gate?' Kouji asked, recognizing the story from Hei.

'Yes. You know what happened next?'

He nodded. 'The seeds suppressed her power and eventually forced her into a Moratorium state, though the murder of her father allowed her to transgress that and become a Contractor.'

'I fail to see what this has to do with me?' the young brunette blinked.

'The signs that Mai exhibited; the lowering attention spans, setting the biology lab on fire...you're starting to exhibit the same signs,' Kouji explained. 'It appears that you and Mai were somehow linked, thus the suppression of her power suppressed your own, and now that she is a Contractor, your power is starting to break free as well.' Then he suddenly blinked as he realised he had talked more in that hour than he had for the last week.

'So...' He suddenly turned pale. 'I'll hurt the people I love? My friends and family?'

'No,' his mother burst out before anyone else could answer, wrapping her son into a hug as they both shook. 'You're stronger than that. Would you ever think to harm us, or Shinya?'

'Hell no!' Takuya exclaimed.

'Do you trust us?'

'Yes.'

'Do you trust you?'

'Umm...'

'Takuya!'

'I-guess I do.'

'How about you know you do.' Kouji interjected. 'Guessing isn't going to get you anywhere.'

* * *

Kanbara Shinya was surprised, to say the least, at the condition of his brother's fifth period class as he went to meet him for lunch. It was a tradition between the brothers; the first five minutes were at least spent together, trading tidbits their mother packed and stories of the first half of the day, though it was always interrupted by other peers from both classes. Though they both agreed it was better that way; no doubt any meeting for more than five minutes would lead to a sibling fight at the end of it.

The labs where Takuya had his fifth period class was covered in blackened soot, and most of the class hovered outside. A few people were notably missing though; he was sure his brother's class held more than nine people, and unfortunately his brother was one of them.

That is not to say however that the area was empty, as police were conversing with the female biology teacher, as well as some of the students.

And there was something else there as well, and even if he couldn't see it, it scared him like nothing else did.

And he wished for his big brother's company more than ever.

* * *

**Notes**

_Public Security Bureau, Foreign Affairs Section 4_ – it is the same department where Kihihara Misaki is section-chief of. Personally, I don't think a team charged with such a large job would be so small as the characters mentioned in the first season (which is honestly all I've watched), so Takuya's dad has been enlisted too. Though while the rest focus mainly on BK-201 throughout the series, Kanbara Hiroaki (along with some others) has been focusing on situations relating more to the Association and LW-202 (aka. Kouji). And because Hiroaki works for Section 4, he knows quite a bit about Contractors, but he agrees with Takuya (or rather, Takuya agrees with him) that Contractors are human and perfectly normal, just prejudiced by society. And he's just as reckless as Takuya is; if Takuya trusts someone (that trust in this case is based on a gut feeling), he trusts him/her as well. Hence why he had no problems in inviting a Contractor who just murdered on his lawn into his house. Yuriko agrees as well, but her agreement is more about her worry about Takuya and Kouji saving him, seeing as they all heard what the "police" said. And since the Mai incident, they realised that Takuya too could be a Moratorium, and that Tahara's decision not only affected his family, but theirs as well.


	4. The Fire that Burns Bright Part 3

**Author's Notes**

And that's the final bit of this episode (of which there are 27 in total excluding prologue and epilogue).

Enjoy.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 3 – The Fire that Burns Bright (Part 3)**

_ ''kaa-san?' he asked softly. 'Can you and 'tou-san come to my performance tomorrow?'_

_ 'Tomorrow?' his mother repeated, frowning softly. 'I'm afraid not. I'm taking your brother to his soccer tournament, and you're father's working. But I promise I'll come to the next one, kay?'_

_She ruffled his hair, and he assented. After all, he normally got his precedence anyway. There had to be one time where his brother did._

_But he couldn't help but feel a little jealous, especially afterwards when he heard about the great victory.

* * *

_

'Why, hello there,' someone whispered close to his ear, once he was making his lonely way home. Normally, Takuya walked with him, but just like lunch time, he was no-where to be found.

And his discomfort was fading away into a slight anger. _So, he wasn't good enough for his brother, was he?_

'You shouldn't be wandering around in your lonesome,' the voice continued, and he spun around to face the cheery teenage boy smiling gently at him. 'No-one came to pick you up from school?'

Shinya debated the question. He was still getting a bad feeling from the man, but he looked genuine enough, and harmless. And his anger at his brother was mounting-

'My brother normally walks me home, but he's gone already,' he muttered bitterly.

'Ah..,' the boy sounded genuinely concerned for a moment. 'Well, I can't have you walking alone. Tell me your address, I'll walk with you.'

And he offered a gloved hand. And after a moment's deliberation, the younger Kanbara took it.

It only occurred to him afterwards that that was the wrong move.

* * *

'Oh no!' Takuya suddenly exclaimed, jumping up. 'Shinya's going to kill me!'

His mother laughed. 'I'm sure he won't. Though he'll be a little mad you didn't spend lunch with him, and didn't walk him home. Until we explain things in any case. He knows the way home though.'

Takuya wasn't convinced. 'I'll go meet him halfway,' he said, grabbing his jacket and ignoring the protests of his parents. 'What harm can happen?'

Kouji's communicator rang on cue.

'What is it?' he snapped into the earpiece.

'Activity in the abandoned warehouse sector,' Ao's voice came through the communicator. 'Several Contractor signals are detected.'

'And you want me to get rid of them before they cause damage,' Kouji muttered.

'That would be preferable. And see what they know first.'

He sighed through his teeth. 'Fine,' he muttered, standing and disconnecting the communicator.

'You're coming?' the brunette asked, surprised.

'No,' the other said flatly. 'The world doesn't revolve around you.'

* * *

He found himself standing in front of a familiar, but empty, house, with a picket driven into the soft soil, and a sign nailed onto it, signifying that the house was for sale.

'kaa-san? 'tou-san?' he cried, searching frantically through the windows for signs of life. But the house had been stripped bare, as if no-one had ever lived in it.

'They're not here?' the boy asked, sounding surprised. 'Are your parents usually home at this time?'

'Yeah,' he muttered, staring at the empty house, before rushing up to the door and trying the handle. 'Locked. Not even Ni-san's home.' He said the last bit bitterly, and his blonde companion noticed.

He looked over the empty house again, before turning back to the young brunette, who was still staring at the empty house.

As it was, he didn't see the brown eyes glow red, nor the fog that thickened over his own brown irises.

And there was no way he would have known that another pair of eyes, far away, were glowing red as well. An empty, blue pair.

'They didn't care,' he muttered, still staring at the house in a sense of shock. 'And now they're gone and left me.'

Then he growled in anger and punched the wall with all the strength he could muster. 'I _hate_ them.'

'Then they don't deserve someone special like you,' the other said softly. 'Why don't you come with me? I've got a few people who would really like to meet you.'

He looked back at the empty house, then nodded sadly. They really had left him, so what else was there for him to do.

'All right.'

And he allowed himself to be lead away.

* * *

'Shinya!' he called, racing back along the path for home after not finding his brother. 'Where are you? Come on buddy, I know you're mad, but that's no reason to scare the hell out of me!'

His shouting had attracted a few people, and thankfully, some he knew.

'If you're looking for your brother,' Himi Tomoki said, a good friend of the said brother. 'We went off with some blonde guy. He didn't look too happy that you didn't walk him home either.'

He gave a sheepish, apologetic look. 'That was the science lab burning down's fault,' he explained. 'Could you tell me the direction please?'

The boy pointed, and Takuya raced off, just as Tomoki's elder brother caught up to him.

'What did I tell you about wandering off by yourself?' Yutaka asked sternly.

'He was just looking for his brother, Onii-san,' Tomoki explained.

'Well...try not to go out of my sight next time.'

He grinned cheekily. 'I'm a big boy,' he said.

'And I'm in charge of you,' the other shot back, causing the younger to pout.

'All right,' he sighed in defeat, before perking up. 'Can we get some ice-cream?'

Yutaka considered, then agreed.

* * *

Kouji surveyed the sector he had been directed too. There were about four grown men inside, one lounging against the door frame and smoking a cigarette with little caution, while two more played checkers with an old board and the last one read.

An easy assassination scene, but not so much when one was after information.

So all he could do was dangle a carrot in front of them and hope to take the bait.

But a Contractor's first instinct is survival, so the bait was easily taken.

* * *

Takuya ran in the direction he had been directed towards, taking note of the empty streets that met him.

_Where in the world is everyone?_ He wondered. It was far too empty for a Monday afternoon.

Then he raced around a corner and crashed right into his brother.

'Shinya,' he gasped out, stopping for breath. 'You had me scared to death buddy.'

'Don't pretend you care now,' the other spat coldly.

'Shinya...?'

A low chuckle interrupted them. 'Your brother's not to happy with you,' the blonde, leaning against a wall and partially consumed in shadow, commented. 'But I'll leave the two of you to it. I wouldn't want to interfere with a 'brotherly' affair.'

He growled. 'What did you do to my brother?'

The other shrugged nonchalantly. 'Nothing but tell him the truth. But as it is, I'm glad you took the bait.'

'Bait?'

The other pointed beside him, and Takuya followed his gaze, staring up at the dirty-skinned man that moved and came to stand behind his brother.

He turned back to the boy. 'So?'

'So,' the addressed shrugged. 'I wonder how long you can hold against a skilled contractor. Especially when your own powers are beyond your control. And _especially_ with the only ace that matters.'

He stepped back into the shadows as the man laid a strong hand on his Shinya's shoulders, the brown eyes staring blankly, and a little icily, at his brother.

'You could surrender you know,' he said softly. 'Just surrender to the Association, and your brother goes free. Or you fight...and he dies.'

And as Takuya struggled to grasp the situation, he stepped back further. 'I'd love to stay, but I have an old friend that needs visiting.'

And then he vanished into the shadows from hence he was made.

* * *

'Pathetic,' Kouji groaned, staring at the three bodies on the ground, and the last backed into a wall. 'Four adult Contractors, and you can't handle a teenager.'

The only standing male growled, but could do little else as his body was shaking too hard to obey his commands, courtesy of the Light Wolf of course.

'Now listen,' he said, scowl deepening as he made sure no one else could move voluntarily, but at the same time taking care not to over-do it. 'You're going to tell me everything you know about the Association, or you're going to suffer a _very_ slow death.'

'And if I tell you?' the Contractor looked up, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.

'If I were you, I'd be more concerned about what will happen if you don't.'

His eyes flashed in warning, and the other frowned.

'We were sent as back-up in case the plan didn't work,' he explained, hands carefully moving to avoid the metallic surface. 'Our orders were to bring Kanbara back alive.'

Kouji's eyes narrowed, carefully watching the movement of the hand.

_If the orders were for him to come back alive, what was with the lot at the house?_

'Why?' he asked aloud. 'And what's the plan?'

'I don't know,' the other replied, and he looked like he really didn't. 'That information wasn't disclosed to us. The plan was to use his brother as bait.'

By then, Kouji's full focus was on the standing Contractor, which meant that the one at the back had enough a free-space to activate his own powers, slashing a hand through the air and catching the teenager on the shoulder as he noticed at the last second and ducked.

Identical slashes appeared over the other's body, similar to the claw marks of a very angry wolf though far deeper, before the said man slumped over, heart ripped into three pieces.

Realising that Takuya would be in trouble if he had fallen for their bait, and from what he had seen of him, he likely would, he turned as the claw-contractor made to attack again, rolling out of the way as the marks embedded themselves into the metallic wall, before kicking a third Contractor, who's own eyes were glowing as a prequel to activated power, into the path of the third strike.

The two associates clashed, claws striking combustion, before they both fell, one with his liver torn out and lung impaled, while the other's head smoking from overheat.

'Anything you'd like to add?' Kouji asked emotionlessly, turning to the fourth and final Contractor, who was backing up slowly.

Their eyes glowed simultaneously, each one reaching for their hidden power. But the Light Wolf was faster, grasping a hold on the other's neuron terminal and twisting what he found there.

Less than a minute later, he was back on his Communicator, leaving four fallen stars behind him.

'Akane, get Haiiro to tell me where Kanbara is.'

A slight pause, then...

'Six blocks down, due East,' came the calm, female reply.

He took off running in that direction.

* * *

His mind was burning with anger, but he struggled to maintain it. One false move, and he'd sign his brother's death warrant...and no matter how much they argued, how many times they said they hated each other, how many times someone came between them, they were still brothers. And they loved each other.

'Shinya,' he tried again.

The blank brown eyes travelled up. 'What are you waiting for?' he asked, without emotion. 'You left me. You might as well kill me too.'

'What are you talking about?' he yelled desperately, trying to control his anger while at the same time trying to keep his mind focused.

_Of all the times for my mind to try wandering off!_

'Shinya,' he continued. 'Something came up at lunch time, that's all. I was coming to get you after school, to meet you halfway, but you weren't there.'

'Liar,' the other said flatly, for the moment both ignoring the overseeing Contractor. 'The house was empty. You all left.'

'Of course it isn't!' he exclaimed in surprise, before shaking his head as he practically _felt_ haze creeping into his eyes. 'kaa-san and 'tou-san are waiting at home for you. And kaa-san made Strawberry Daifuku too.'

Shinya remained silent.

'Come on,' he tried again. 'That's your favourite. And she didn't make it for me and 'tou-san. You know we hate the strawberries. She made it for you.'

'For me?' he whispered, and it seemed the haze was disappearing. 'But the house..?'

'Honestly,' Takuya shook his head again. 'I don't know what you saw, but I just left them both at home.'

'So...you don't...' It sounded like he was trying to come to grips with it all. 'You didn't leave me?'

'Of course not 'touto-chan.'

A brown spark came into his eyes as they widened childishly. 'Really?'

He grinned, realising the familiar conversation. 'Really really.'

He blinked, and his eyes returned to normal, before he squeezed them shut again as long fingernails dug into his skin.

'Enough with your little brotherly chat,' the older man hissed. 'Which one's it going to be? Him or you?'

Takuya's eyes flashed between their blank, Moratorium state and their usual brown, but he didn't answer.

The man grinned, showing his yellowing teeth. 'Time's up,' he smirked, opening his mouth to show something emerald dripping from his jaws. 'Say goodbye.'

And he lost all restraint.

* * *

Shinya screamed as the nails dug into his skin, his mind still reeling from the uplifting of...whatever had just occurred. His brother, the only he always fought with and said he hated, but never truly did, was standing there, eyes changing while fear remained a constant emotion...fear for him.

His brother was afraid for him.

Then something green dripped onto his blazer, burning through like acid, and he looked up to find the disgusting substance dripping from the jaws of the man who held him, threatening to burn through his skin and bones as well.

He tried to pull away, but the grip was too strong, and the sudden fear too much.

He had been right the first time. That boy was not to be trusted.

But he had gotten angry at his brother, without allowing him the chance to explain, and now both brothers were about to pay the price.

Or so he thought, until the man suddenly turned alight, and the grip slackened, allowing him to throw it up and crawl away.

But in the haze that stung at his eyes, his brother had disappeared.

'Ni-san!' he yelled. 'Where are you?'

No reply came.

* * *

In his own mind, he was drifting without aim. There was nothing save blankness readily forgotten, shaded orange and red like the fire's flame.

Nothing mattered here, nothing...

_'Ni-san!'_

_Older brother? I'm somebody's brother._

Somehow, he didn't remember that. He was nothing. How could nothing have a brother?

Then something sparked, and he remembered.

_Shinya..._

His hands were hot, as was the rest of him.

_'Where are you?'_

The voice sounded desperate, panicked...apologetic.

_He's...sorry?_

'Well, duh. He's your little brother idiot,' said the voice at the back of his head.'

_My...brother?_

_"Onii-san! You still have to take me home! Remember, 'kaa-san and 'tou-san are waiting for us!'_

_My mother...and father?_

For some reason, he felt those emotions that came were foreign.

As if...he wasn't meant to feel.

Except the warmth that came from the outside fire.

But something was still nagging him.

And it took a precious few seconds to realise what.

_'I'll hurt the people I love? My friends and family?'_

_'No. You're stronger than that. Would you ever think to harm us, or Shinya?'_

_'Hell no!' _

The murky brown suddenly focused, before glowing red and focusing on a certain Contractor, before there was nothing left to burn and only the ashes and bones remained.

* * *

Kouji arrived to find the younger brother in his elder's arms, sobbing his head off as he apologized again and again while the other tried to placate him.

Funny...it reminded him of another set of two brothers, though closer in age. For a moment, the mask of indifference slipped as he watched the two brothers, before he replaced it and stepped forward to interrupt their cosy conversation, taking in the ashes and scorched walls.

'I take it you dispatched that Contractor.'

Takuya turned around. 'Says the one who didn't tag along.'

He shrugged. 'I had a few others to deal with. And they informed me they dangled a carrot in front of your face and you took the bait.'

He scowled. 'What would you have done?'

'Exactly the same thing.' And for once, the answer sounded genuine.

Then they both turned to look at the ashes again. 'I killed him.'

'This is war. People will be killed. And others will be saved.'

The brunette still stared at the ashes, before allowing a small smile to play on his face, looking down at the mop of brown that was his younger brother. 'Yeah. People will be saved.'

He supposed he could live with that.

* * *

In the shadows, the blonde doll smirked. Things hadn't gone entirely to plan, but it didn't matter. Because there was always more than one road to the end.

Unseen, he moved to slip away, but the black-haired boy looked up before the shadows fully clouded him.

He let a smile, a genuine one, slip over his face, before disappearing from sight.

After all, he could only feel what had been programmed into him, and do as he was commanded.

So he couldn't help but be _happy_ at the sight of the other.

* * *

_**Translations:**_

Ao – blue, codename for Seraphimon's character

Akane – red, codename for Ophanimon's character

Haiiro – grey, name of doll medium used in Kouji's sect.

If you're wondering why Yin was used last time, Hairro wasn't available and Hei told Yin to help him.

* * *

_**Next episode: **_The Doll in the Shadows


	5. The Doll in the Shadows Part 1

Just for the record, there are indefinite time skips between most episodes. I think the later ones run consecutively, but for the most part, if there's a bit of a difference between relationships, it's because newbies have gotten to know each other a little better.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 4 – The Doll in the Shadows (Part 1)**

_ 'What in the world are you doing?' Kouji asked in bewilderment and slight distaste, watching a brother till a few weeks ago he hadn't even known existed fiddling around with what looked like a sponge and a few scraps of material and thread._

_The other looked up at the tone, an uncomfortable look adorning his face as he realised he had been observed, before returning to his work. 'Making a doll,' he murmured, putting one end of a yellow thread in his mouth as he tried to work the other end into the needle head, missing a few times before succeeding and pulling the thread through._

_ 'That's rather girlish.'_

_ 'That's rather prejudiced,' the other countered, proceeding to stitch some hair into the head. 'People use different things to preserve memories and hope. I normally draw, or write, but when things are exceedingly special, something I want to be able to carry around, I'll imagine them somehow in my mind and make a doll that carries the story.'_

_That was a depth he rarely saw with other people._

_ 'What about you?'_

_ 'What about me what?' Kouji deadpanned._

_ 'Isn't there anything in this world you like to preserve?' He twisted back to stare into the darker and more piercing blue orbs._

_He just gaped._

_Kouichi finished off the final few stiches and pulling off the cord he had evidently used to bind the clothes, before sweeping the leftovers in his free hand into the trash can at the end of the batch. He then, to the other's surprise, offered the completed doll to him._

_Before he really knew what he was doing, he gripped the small figure in his hand._

_ 'May I ask, why blonde?'_

_ 'Do you know what yellow represents?'_

_He thought for a moment._

_ 'Light?'_

_ 'Hai.' He paused for a moment, sadness coming across his face as he turned back to the desk he sat at. 'Sometimes it's hard to see the light in the darkness.'_

_ 'You are one weird person, you know that?'_

_A small smirk danced on his features. 'You'll just have to get used to that then, because that's just the way I am.'_

_ 'Yeah...' he mused, looking at the doll he held. 'I guess so.' And for some inexplicable reason, he felt a smile crack onto his own face, which made the other's smile widen._

_ 'I guess we should start from the beginning.' Kouichi stood. 'Kimura Kouichi.'_

_ 'Minamoto Kouji?' It sounded more like a question than an introduction._

_ 'You sound like you're not sure.'_

_ 'I was, until you suddenly appeared out of no-where.'_

_There was a pause, then a sigh. 'I didn't know either, you know. But I was glad that I still had family left to take me in. Because...' He hesitated, before continuing. 'Because...I can't stand being alone.'_

_ 'Neither can I,' the other admitted. 'I think I can get used to this.'_

_The other smiled again, letting the light in his eyes shine._

_ 'Thanks, by the way.'_

_ 'You're welcome.'_

* * *

That doll was now gone, along with the rest of the house, but the description Takuya was giving him sounded exactly like-

'Hey! Earth to Minamoto!'

He raised an eyebrow.

'Weren't you the one going on about my low attention span?'

'No,' the boy deadpanned. 'I was the one going on about your horrible singing.'

'It's not that bad,' Takuya grinned. 'But seriously, what were you thinking-Wait a sec. You don't know that guy do you?'

'Fucking brilliant Kanbara.'

The brunette blinked at the language, but shrugged it off. Minamoto Kouji, despite being a great many other things, was still a teenager after all.

'So?'

'So what?'

'Aren't you going to tell me anything?'

'His name is Dusk,' the boy all but snarled. 'And he was with the Contractor responsible for my family's deaths.'

Wisely, Takuya didn't say a word as the other continued. 'We've been trying to catch him for years, and while we managed at one stage to get a lock on him and track him back to the Association...or rather, the Contractor he was working with at the time, we're no closer to actually catching him than the amateur eight year old contractor that first attacked him.'

'You were eight?' the brunette gasped. 'Then...that's why you moved.'

Kouji spared a glance at the other but did not speak, as Takuya collected his thoughts. 'Why is he so important to you?'

'He's dangerous,' came the flat reply. 'You saw the power he had over your brother, and that was nothing compared to his full potential.'

'Not that.' He waved the other off. 'There's something deeper. You wouldn't be so...well, I can't say obsessed because I haven't known you long enough, but...aargh, you know what I mean. Right?'

'No.'

'I mean, why would you care about this particular doll. You're a Contractor, and as you said, it's a fight for survival. People live, people die. Sure, he is partly responsible for the deaths of your family, and stopping him would stop more deaths on his account, but I think there's something further than that?'

'And what makes you say that?' He asked emotionlessly.

'The fact that you're hiding behind your mask again. And your eyes, as if you almost _want_ to see him, and not the killer intent look either.'

Takuya, much to his excitement and his father chagrin, had been drafted into the Syndicate following the little stunt involving his brother, but thankfully put under Ao's command. That meant that his life progressed relatively normally, save the Contractor signals that occasionally popped up that were assumed to be linked to the Association; teasing little scrimmages which seemed the mastermind was simply playing with his food and prompting it closer than offering up any vital opportunities they could exploit. In the process, working with Kouji, he had gotten to know the still relatively new lone-wolf transfer better, and had succeeded in somewhat breaking the shell that encased the true Kouji (as the brunette so eloquently put it)...which, according to Akane, was quite the achievement with any average Contractor and more so when it came to the white wolf.

'Well? You gonna spill?'

He paused for a moment. If it had been anyone else, he would have said no. Heck, if it _had_ been anyone else, he wouldn't be in such a situation to begin with, but that doll had interfered with the Kanbara brothers too, so if there was anyone who would understand, it was him.

'He looks like-' Here, he hesitated, and the other, sensing the discomfort, kept his silence. '-like the doll my brother once made and gave me. He-' Another pause. 'He said the yellow reminded him of the light in the darkness.'

'Light in the darkness?..Hang on a sec, you have a brother?'

Kouji noted the absence of the past tense, for which he was grateful for. 'Yeah...a twin. This was just after his...our mother died. Our parents were divorced, and he lived with her. We didn't even know the other existed till she died and 'tou-san got custody over Ni-san...'

His voice trailed off as the other processed the information. 'You're talking about a toy doll here, right? Not the medium one.'

'Right.'

'That's...odd. Why would someone create a doll based off one?'

'Probably for spite. Every time I see his shadow or hear his name, it's feels like it's making a mockery of my brother, of his way of seeing the best in everything. He was always so kind and content with everything...he never wanted any more than he had, you know? And he was the best brother I could ever ask for...he had this knack of keeping me out of trouble too.'

It felt good to talk about him to someone else who understood, and he found that once he started, the memories kept flowing, begging for a release.

'There was one kid who leaved near us, the kind who though he owned the place. I hated him, and he wasn't too thrilled with me either. Didn't like my attitude, he said. We got into an argument at one point, to the point where we were going to beat each other up, and Ni-san just comes out of no-where, makes the guy fall flat on his face, drags me home before I could even blink, and then gives me a lecture about not picking fights in school while he nurses a few scrapes and bruises.'

Takuya couldn't help but laugh at the story. 'Overprotective.'

'Not overly though. He knew what I could handle and what I couldn't. I would have gotten a suspension if I had been caught fighting on school grounds again. One hit counts as self-defence so Ni-san got away with it. You know, I didn't even know he could fight till then. He said he's more of a pacifist. I should be the one protecting him. But I can't. I _couldn't_.'

'Nightmares?' Takuya asked, dutifully ignoring the stress on the past tense, and veering the conversation away.

'Yeah. Not unexpected though. He saw three people close to him die by the time he was six. Those times...it wouldn't matter if there was someone else there, that it was summer, or he was in someone's arms...he would still be screaming about the cold, the emptiness, the loneliness. And then he'd wake up, and it would be as if that never happened, fluttering around like a butterfly making you just have to smile and he'd just lock away his own problems and his own fears.'

He stopped talking then, as if waiting for the inevitable, but the brunette, once again (this was becoming a regular occurrence), surprised him. 'You know, there's a saying which goes that the butterflies always follow the light.'

He blinked in surprise. 'He's been legally declared dead you know.'

'That doesn't mean you believe it. Besides, who gives a damn about legalities.'

'How did you-?'

He shrugged. 'When I first met you, I though you looked like the person searching for someone. And it looks like I was right.'

The bandana-wearing boy simply stared. 'Why can't you be this smart all the time?'

The brunette gave him a teasing grin. 'Just because my grades stink, doesn't mean I'm not. It's just more fun to goof around.'

* * *

He looked as his parents graves. Coincidently, the three: mother, father and stepmother, had been buried in the same cemetery, along with the grandparents he had never met, and the empty grave that he, till this day, had not laid eyes on. Because it was too definite, too sure, that it held death within its marble, and despite the strengths the Gate gave, all it seemed to inevitably bring was death. Because life was beyond the mechanical capability. It was beyond any ability on earth at all.

An unexpected voice suddenly brought him out of his respects.

'You took-'

_ '-your time,' Kouichi laughed, turning to smile at his brother, Tomoko's grave, afresh with new flowers behind him. 'I thought for a moment-'_

'you weren't coming.'

Kouji turned in surprise, recognising the voice and hardly believing it, before seeing the speaker and realising the new level of mockery the doll Dusk presented.

A cute pout graced his face, much like it would his brother's when he was in a particularly teasing mood.

'You're not-'

_'-happy to see me?' the elder twin pouted, looking a little like an irresistible puppy begging to play._

_ 'Of course I am,' Kouji replied warmly. 'You -'_

'-startled me.' But, unlike in the past with his brother, the tone was ice cold. 'And why would I be happy to see you?'

'You were looking for me, weren't you?' The question sounded sweet, genuine, and so much like his brother, only older, that it was so _hard_ to remember who it was that stood before him.

_'Kazumi-san said you wanted to ask me something.'_

_ 'Yeah...umm...' The younger twin suddenly found himself stuttering. 'I just wanted to ask-'_

'-who are you and what are you working for?' The Contractor growled out.

'I don't know-'

_'-what you mean.' The other's face was a mask of pure innocence._

_ 'Come on Ni-san,' Kouji whined, showing a side he rarely showed elsewhere. 'I know you had something to do with Masa's sudden rehabilitation.'_

_ 'Seriously, I have no idea-'_

'-what you're talking about.'

'Don't play around with me,' Kouji snarled. 'You were there eight years ago. And you're still here now. You destroyed my family, and others over the years, and on top of that, you tried to-'

_ '-break our bond? That's never going to happen.'_

_Kouichi smiled at him almost sleepily, comfortably leaning against the sofa. 'I'm glad.' For a moment, the smile faltered. 'I don't think I could lose you.'_

_ 'Me neither. And anyone who tries, is-'_

'-going to pay.'

'I didn't,' the doll said plainly. 'I only do what I am programmed, and ordered, to do.'

'Who's your-'

_'-maker then? Do you believe in a God?'_

_ 'Where did this come from?'_

_ 'Well...I've heard people who see death lose faith in the unseen.'_

_ 'That's not always the case,' the elder twin mused. 'I think...the world would be a really sad place without such faith.'_

The doll simply sighed, slightly exasperatedly, as Kouichi used to when attempting to explain something which made no sense in the other's logic. 'There are dolls that are programmed to act like the maker,' he said, as if explaining an elementary math problem. 'And they're the ones with the control. What you really should be asking, is who controls the controller?

* * *

**Notes:**

That last bit is not strictly canon, but I don't remember any instances where there is a doll after a live person. In the first two episodes, the Chiaki (from Darker than Black, not the Digimon one) that Hei/Li meets is a doll based off the real Chiaki, who's body was found drowned in a river. Yin is shown to be based of the girl Kirsi, who was killed in a car crash, and from what I know, there is something similar with July's case. Yin specifically, despite being under Huang's commands, obeys Hei over him which shows that he doesn't have the ultimate control, and during that episode where her memories start returning, it seems like Kirsi's emotions and talents carry through and have influence over her own. Thus, there doesn't really appear to be anyone will full control over the Doll mediums that appear most commonly as they at times do contradict their programming, like how July calls December his friend, and Chiaki saves Hei. That makes me think that perhaps the only person who would have full control is the one who created the doll/the doll was based from (I don't know how dolls are created, but I think it might be subconscious in some cases, so it is in this one). The purpose of dolls isn't really defined in the first series; Chiaki was more of a diversion while Yin and July, along with the ones in the National Security Bureu, are more mediums. Dusk's purpose will become more apparent later on, but at the moment, you should at least be able to tell who the maker is.

The memories/real time interacting might be a bit confusing, but it's basically because of the two having the conversation. Dusk is using exact phrases Kouichi has used in the past, which is what triggers the memories, though Kouji is not exactly responding in kind.

As for the length (about a page smaller than usual), it was the best place to stop. For some reason, I loved the ending.

More of a flashback chapter, but that doesn't mean there's no action in this episode.

Next up is the second part.


	6. The Doll in the Shadows Part 2

Sorry for the late chapter. I realised after I tried to start this that I had no idea what I wanted past the last part.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 5 – The Doll in the Shadows (Part 2)**

_It was a hopeless cause, trying to find Kouichi when he was no-where to be found. Most of the time, he'd be smiling and laughing and being an all time star shining in the sky, but there were times when even he needed some alone-time, the sparking light in the sky hiding behind the clothes as he sought his solace._

_But that didn't he was going to do it alone._

'What do you mean?' Kouji snarled, torn between shock of two different kinds with no idea how to express it. 'What do you know?'

'I know what I know,' the doll cryptically replied, shifting amongst the shadows that housed him as the sun lolled on the horizon. 'Question is, what do you know?'

'Don't fuck with me. Where is my brother?'

'Is he alive you mean?' Dusk cocked an eyebrow, looking eerily like his own expression of contented boredom, before twisting into a cherubic expression he associated with only one person. He closed his eyes then, tilting his head to the sky and humming a little, before his lips parted a little, and...

_...and he heard words dancing on the winds. He was singing._

'_Dakishimeru dake ja furue wa tomaranakute_

_Ano koro no samusa wa kitto konna mon ja nakatta...'_

_It wasn't a song he recognised, nor one he would have chosen. But with the tears tricking down his twin's cheeks...perhaps there was more comfort in such words than he knew._

_But it was beautiful, in a humane, anguishing sort of way. Always so happy and content, it was sometimes hard to remember that under that skin, pain still lurked._

_So he just listened, letting the world know for now. He could know later._

_ 'Kubiwa no nai norainu ga ore no koto waratteru...'_

'Itsu no ma ni ka ore wa mainichi ni obiehajime

Yami no naka de mogaku Hikari o motome

Kawaru keshiki no naka, nani ka o machitsuzuketeru

Ugoku sekai no naka, hontou no kotae o sagashiteru...'

Dusk stopped singing, in that hauntingly familiar voice that mocked everything he held dear to his heart.

'You remember that, don't you?' the doll asked, sounding almost sad, still daring to use his brother's tone and pushing the other to his limits. 'Before I knew it, I've started to be scared everyday

Struggling in darkness, I want light

In the changing scenery, I keep on waiting for something

In the moving world, I'm searching for the true answer...'

The English lyrics were just as moving as the Japanese ones, but their silencing effect was drowned by the sudden mocking tone that developed. 'Your brother's still looking for his nightlight,' he mocked, sounding more like himself now. 'Sorry, but I was under orders to do this.' And he almost did sound sorry.

That sent warning signs flaring through his head...too late. Eyes glowed red, but before the power in the air could lock onto a target, the doll was gone, taking the bandages wrapped on old wounds with it.

The graveyard was still and silent once more. For the first time since he lost his family, Minamoto Kouji broke down and cried. Cried for parents long gone, a brother lost in the darkness for so long and more so as the days past, for a hope granted a status further than a fool but at the same time snatched of the hope of anything more and most importantly for a part of his heart and soul he could gain back as the path in front on him grew just that little bit longer.

* * *

'The next time you see that doll,' Ao said, sounding rather peeved. 'You are to dispatch him. Is that understood?'

'Hai,' Kouji muttered, though considering the circumstances, he wasn't sure if he would be able to do. After all, despite the pain that surfaced each time Dusk brought up another memory of their three years together, there was also hope buried beneath. If his brother was searching for...

_ 'A nightlight?' Kouji looked rather sceptical, not having seen anything remotely of the sort, though he wasn't sure his brother was even talking to him, seeing as he was on the other side of the door._

_There was the sound of someone jumping in shock and bumping into something, before the door swung open and the head peaking out behind it mock-glaring at him. 'What was that for?'_

_ 'My bad,' the younger twin replied sheepishly as the elder came around the doorway, rubbing his head. 'But a nightlight? Since when do you have one?'_

_ 'You silly,' the other laughed. 'How many times have I called you that?'_

_Now that he thought about it..._

'He's looking for me?'

'Excuse me?' the blonde commander still looked rather annoyed at him.

'Dusk,' the younger Contractor muttered, still lost in his thoughts. 'He said Ni-san's looking for me.'

The elder frowned. 'You're letting non-existent emotions get in the way. Need I remind you that you are a Contractor?'

'No,' the other growled. 'I'm well aware of that fact.'

'In any case,' Ao shook his head. 'I'm taking you off his apprehension.'

Kouji's head shot up in shock. 'What?'

'I'm taking you off the assignment of Dusk's apprehension. I simply cannot allow a shady job. Seeing as you have already proven your incapability in stopping him in close proximity by allowing your _emotions_ to get in the way, I will ask Burgundy to handle this.'

'Kanbara?' the 'white wolf' spluttered. 'After _his_ brother?'

A cold look fixed itself upon him. 'Hope he does a better job than you,' Ao said flatly. 'Or the Syndicate will have our heads. Information is power, but all your accomplishment has done is thrown your weakness to the winds.'

Perhaps he was harsher than necessary, but both were Contractors after all. There were times were he didn't understand his commander's coldness, but other times when he could look beyond that and see past the mask adorned.

It was simply easier to avoid feelings. Too many times they were a liability. But at the same time, they were humane.

Hence why Contractors were no longer called 'human.'

* * *

'I don't get it,' Takuya admitted, after both had had their separate meetings with their commander.

'What's new?' Kouji grumbled, still displeased about the situation as a whole.

'Well...Dusk mostly. He sounds like he's got split personality or something. Like switching from...well...' He broke off awkwardly, but he needn't have worried; Kouji was thinking of the point made.

'Split personality, huh...' He mused to himself, half sadly, half wistfully. 'Or possession.'

The brunette stopped working, hurriedly yelling at Shinya (who they had picked up after basketball) ahead of them to stop before turning to their third companion. 'Possession? What gave you that idea?'

'"What you should be asking is who controls the controller?"' Kouji quoted. 'At the time, I had a hard time focusing on the nuances of what he said. After all, that was the first evidence I've seen or heard since...since-'

'Yeah, I get ya buddy,' the pyro-contractor cut him off. 'So...' He cut himself off next as a thought occurred to him. 'Is Ao always that grouchy?'

'Generally when my emotions affect my judgement in his view.'

'But?' the other prompted, seeing the hesitation.

'But still colder than normal. So what though, he's worried about the Syndicate. I am too; they don't tolerate failure.'

'Personally, I think he knows more than he's telling. Why would he give this job to an amateur then, if it's so important?'

'Are you complimenting or insulting yourself?'

A sheepish laugh followed. 'Eh...both?'

'You're ridiculous.'

'Says the guy who got his wall knocked down by me.'

They had started walking again by then, Shinya still skipping ahead, more than at ease by his brother's new powers and 'friend' (Kouji verbally denying the usage of the term). 'Are you coming for dinner?' he called suddenly, walking backwards and somehow avoiding the lamp post behind him. ''kaa-san makes the best curry.'

'Actually, she makes the best everything,' Takuya commented. 'But we probably all say that about our mothers.'

'True,' Kouji agreed, thinking back to his step-mother's cooking. Especially her apple pies.

'We're even having apple pie for desert,' the youngest brother shouted from across the street he had just crossed. Apparently, fate decided to give him a bit of a bittersweet treat.

'Right,' the other brother commented, rolling his eyes and ruffling the hair. 'Tell the whole world while you're at it.'

'But we are,' Shinya whined.

'That doesn't mean you shout it out in public.'

'Like you don't.'

'Of course not.'

'Oh, like you didn't shout out the new release of-' He was suddenly cut off as Takuya covered his mouth. 'Aargh, let's just go home.'

And he proceeded in that direction, the other two following.

After all, even lone-wolves live in packs, and he wasn't really in the mood to deny an opportunity.

Besides, he couldn't cook to save his life (not that Hei hadn't tried to teach him, back when the two were assigned to the same team, along with both Satomi and Kouichi at various times), so denial would have been a lose-lose situation.

And as he watched Takuya kicked out of the kitchen by his mother in amusement, he realised the other couldn't either.

* * *

_ 'Kouji! Hey, where'd you go?'_

_Not that he was scared of anything, but it wasn't very appealing wondering through the large double storey house (he had, till then, lived in a rather small apartment) alone at night except for a brother he was currently having trouble finding._

_ 'C'mon,' he pleaded, shouting from downstairs so his voice could (hopefully) project all three levels of the house (and yes, the basement counted). 'This isn't funny!'_

_Lightning flashed from outside, and the lights in the house flickered dangerously, before thunder finally caught up and the loud booming noise echoed through empty space. Another flash followed, and then the lights went entirely._

_ 'Kouji! If you don't get down here right now, I'll...I'll...' He faltered a moment as he tried to come up with a good enough threat, and mostly failed. 'I'll beat you up with your kendo sword!'_

_The darkness was the only thing that answered him, shadows curling around his ankles and-_

_Hang on a sec. Tangible darkness?_

_Before he could freak out entirely, the door opened._

_ 'Ni-san? Sorry, I didn't think the power would go out. Did you get me-Kouichi!'_

_It only took the shadows returning to their original state to take the boy to the ground. Luckily, or perhaps not, no-one had seen the red eyes glowing in those darkness._

_And the only one who had considered the power of fear was the one who had unintentionally, and perhaps at barely a touchstone of its true power, turned it against himself._

* * *

The lights were still out; it was nothing new, it had been like that for a long time now. Days, months, years...he didn't really know. He couldn't tell. All that really happened was eyes opening and closing, mind drifting from one dream to another, never being able to tell illusion from reality but always seeing darkness. Nothing made sense, nothing clicked...saved a face always before his eyes and a name always hovering on his lips.

Heck...he didn't even know who _he_ was anymore. There were too many blank spots, too many times where his mind was not his own...too much darkness to know anything less.

He would sometimes move, feeling himself walk through the streets, talk...but the steel hardness would always cover his back, his wrists, his head...always holding him in place. Always imprisoning him. Caging him. Keeping him tame. He would sometimes seek, sometimes simply enjoy things...but there was none of that, save the darkness he was surrounded by. For the most part, he moved without command...not his command anyway. Sometimes he remembered to fight, but the will would easily disperse into nothingness nowadays. After all, there wasn't anything to back it up.

But even amongst that darkness, there was the prospect for light. Even if it was so far away. Even if it was intangible. And when he could, when he could get his mind mercifully free, he would search. And when he couldn't, he would wait.

And he was still waiting. Even when his eyes slipped close and the flimsy wall that saved what he had managed to obtain of his own mind was thrown open.

Blue eyes tinted with purple and red slipped closed, before opening again.

But this time, there was no blue in them. That sense was shut. But above them, outside the abyss of nothingness, a star shone. As it had for eight long years.

And as it would for awhile yet. Till a contractor torn apart was put back together. Till a mind warped and possessed till only little fragments of truth remained, was healed.

Till what was lost is regained.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Only true Contractors (those that got their powers at the appearance of the gates) have remunerations. Thus the fact that Kouji has no payment and got his powers two years later tells you that he isn't a true Contractor. Hei isn't one either, he got his power when his sister died.

Contractors are supposed to not feel emotions, be basically killing machines. However towards the end of the first season of Darker than Black, Hei and the Evening Primrose both see this as false. Personally, I think it's a way of hiding from the responsibility. Takuya, growing up with a loving family, obviously disagrees, as does Kouji who loves his brother too much to let that go. Ao for the most part is against this, hence why he doesn't always have too much patience with Kouji, especially with the bad turnout with the on-going mission of getting information out of Dusk (or anyone really) about the Association.

Shinya is cool with the Contractor business. Actually, his whole family is, but that's the next part.

The song Kouichi/Dusk was singing in the flashback/real time was oreta tsubasa de, Kouichi's Japanese image song. The first fragment is translated here:

_Just holding me close won't stop my trembling_

_The coldness of that time surely wasn't like what it is now_

And the second, Dusk already translated.

The comment about apple pies comes from Frontier's CD drama, where Kouji takes an apple pie made by his stepmum to Kouichi on their birthday.

The last flashback marks a different segment. It's not related to the Kouji/Dusk exchanges like the rest. The tangible darkness is fear personified...take note of that, because it's kinda the whole point of the story.

Purple symbolises evil, darkness or Cherubimon in a nutshell. Kouichi's symbol in Frontier is purple. So is Ken's crest and digiegg in Adventure 02. Cherubimon's evil form has purple in it, as does the fortress of the Digimon Emperor/Kaiser (again, season 2). Myotismon/Vamdemon is all its forms has purple (01/02) and Apocylamon in the first season of Digimon did as well. As did Lucemon's darkness attack...see why I used it? Black works too, but the problem is that darkness itself is black, so...too much black really.

And the last sentence, "till what was lost is regained", is an illusion to the title of this story.

*Sighs...* What am I still missing? It really feels like I've forgotten something...


	7. The Doll in the Shadows Part 3

I remembered what I forgot in the last part. The reasoning behind Takuya's code-name. Burgundy is one of the characters in the third season of Yu Gi Oh GX and the only one who makes it away from the village overrun by the Supreme King's forces. It was after seeing his death that Jim challenges the Supreme King and finds out his true identity, but Burgundy was a really brave warrior trying to defend the last of the free villages essentially by himself. The colour is also a cross between red and brown, so I thought it suited.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 6 – The Doll in the Shadows (Part 3)**

The Kanbara family seemed rather relaxed, all things considered, with two Contractors sitting at their dinner table, one being their own son, the other his best friend. Parents would normally be concerned; the opinion of Contractors within the police force wasn't entirely positive as one would suspect, but as long as humanity was preserved, neither wife nor husband had any qualms. Shinya was a little too young to grasp the wider implications, but he saw what his brother's love for him had accomplished, and that was all the proof he needed.

'Hey, 'tou-san?' Takuya asked suddenly, looking at the officer who was, as rare an occurrence it was, at home for dinner that night. 'Are the police still trying to track me?'

'No actually,' Hiroaki frowned. 'You didn't prove yourself a threat, and with the latest issues with BK-201 and the missing meteor fragment, Kirihara-san was forced to let it go.' He raised an eyebrow at Kouji though. 'It seems like you're enough of an enigma to have an eye on yourself still. Not that it would make much of a difference.'

'Indeed,' Kouji grunted, thankful for the information in any case.

* * *

'Is there a reason you're walking me back to my apartment?' Kouji asked, a tad annoyed at being treated like a girl.

'Yep,' Takuya responded, grinning. 'You're the bait.'

'Excuse me?' He stopped short in surprise, having not expected that answer.

'Well, you see...' The brunette broke off awkwardly, sensing the displeasure.

'No I don't see. Care to enlighten me.'

The snappish tone turned the grin into a frown, and Takuya looked critically at the dim light the street lamps gave to the boy walking in front of him.

'Are you by any chance scared of the dark?'

'No,' came the reply, too quick and snappish to be believed, even if it was the truth.

The other let it go though. Wasn't important after all. 'Don't go to sleep too late.'

'And who are you to lecture me about my sleeping patterns?'

* * *

As he lay back on his bed, he had to wonder again why Takuya had brought that topic up. It was a stupid childhood fear, and it wasn't his anyway.

But fear tended to be rather irrational.

He closed his eyes, letting the memory swim to the surface...

_The twins sometimes snuck into each other's rooms, but for the most part stuck to their own. Even now that they were comfortable with each other's presence, they tended to keep to their own rooms. They simply had different sleeping patterns._

_They had tried permanently sharing a room for a couple of days, but the outcome had been the elder twin being so tired he almost plummeted down the stairs. Apparently, he was simply too light a sleeper to be able to fall asleep with someone snoring beside him (which the younger twin avidly rebuked) and that had resulted in sleepless nights. Half guilty, half mad, Kouji had finally suggested they go back to their own rooms, and Kouichi had readily agreed._

_Of course, the other part of the elder's sleep was that when he did fall asleep, it took quite a bit to wake him up._

_Something he _must_ have taken from their father, seeing as neither parent had come to see the commotion._

_Kouji slowly opened his brother's door and slipped inside, climbing easily onto the bed and over the other's flailing limbs before easing the struggling and crying form onto his lap._

_ 'Shush,' he comforted. 'It's okay. I'm here now.'_

_But his brother didn't hear him, still crying incoherently._

_ 'Kouichi? C'mon Ni-san, wake up!'_

_He shook him, harder when he didn't respond, only for the other to attempt to whiter away, coming out of REM but still disjointed. The mumbles became a little clearer though._

_ 'No! Don't go! Don't leave me!'_

_ 'Kouichi, I'm right _here!_'_

_The blue eyes finally opened. 'Kouji?'_

_ 'Yeah?'_

_They stared sightlessly, unable to see through the darkness. 'Where are you?'_

_ 'I'm here.' He wrapped the other in an embrace, cradling the shaking form in his lap, letting him be the weaker twin for a time, small as it was. _

_ 'Always?' his voice sounded thin and slightly slurred, still partially caught in whatever hell his nightmares led._

_ 'Always,' the other promised, feeling his twin slump against him. 'Ni-san? What are you afraid of?'_

_Later, as he reflected on that memory, he would realise that a tired and defenceless brother was a lot easier to get information out of._

_ 'A lot of things: being alone, darkness...death.'_

_ 'Shouldn't you get a proper nightlight then?'_

_ 'Hmm...no. Not in that sense.' The words were starting to lap over one another._

_ 'Sleep Ni-san.'_

* * *

Takuya turned away from the apartment and walked down the road, then doubled back to look at the apartment again.

'Looking for someone?' a voice, now unfortunately familiar, asked.

'Yes in fact,' Burgundy responded, turning to stare at the doll in the dim streetlights. 'You.'

'And you knew I'd be around...how?' Dusk sounded rather amused.

'You've got about as much as obsession with Kouji as he does with you,' the brunette replied. 'And if what he thinks is right, then whoever created you should probably be asleep now...right?'

The red eyes considered him, before their owner nodded. 'Right.'

'Good, so you can tell me some stuff.'

The red eyes regarded him again. 'Why?'

'Why what?' Takuya asked.

'Why are you here?' the doll extended. 'Because you have to?'

'Because I care,' the other shot back. 'What do you take me for?'

The doll simply stared coolly at him.

'Okay,' Takuya sighed. 'Forget I said that. What's your medium?'

'Darkness,' Dusk explained. 'Shadows to be precise. I would have thought that was obvious.'

'Oh yeah,' the brunette realised, seeing the connection between name and power. 'How come no-one saw that before? Never mind. Rhetorical question. Anyway, did his brother really make you?'

'Unconsciously, yes.'

'Why?'

'Preservation.'

'What do you work for?'

'Me in what sense?'

'Um...both?'

'The Association? I don't know anything past the legend, which I think your commander knows of. The Warrior Ten. I just have to follow orders. Otherwise, I'm just the child that is lost, looking for the remainder of myself.'

'It's not you though, is it?' Takuya really couldn't believe how easy it was, talking to the Doll rather calmly as though the two were carrying on a normal conversation.

'No.' Dusk shook his head sadly. 'It isn't. It's him, but I can't keep coming back before I get caught.'

'Get caught how?'

'He wakes up,' was the flat reply.

'Oh, okay. Um...if you're a doll, how did you do that stuff with my brother? Oh, don't worry,' he added immediately, not meaning to guilt trip the other. 'I don't blame you. Once I find the guy really responsible, I'll blame him.'

'I was made from a Contractor,' Dusk replied, cutting the reply as short as possible as he felt something stir in his mind. 'I can use some of his powers as well.'

'Which are?' Takuya asked.

Too late. The other force was awake, and he had another set of orders to follow.

'I was here for another reason too,' he said, voice darkening in an ominous warning.

'Oh?' The brunette immediately prepared himself for a fight, especially as the lamp above them switched out and a head appeared from a floor above them. Kouji's head, who had apparently noticed the conversation going on outside his apartment window. 'And what's that?'

'You.'

'Me?' Oh no. 'Does this by any chance have to do with that stunt with my brother?'

'As a matter of fact...yes.'

'Care to elaborate then?' Takuya asked with feigned calm, eyes glowing as he combusted the carbon in the air and set it aflame.

Dusk simply closed his eyes. 'I'm just here to check something.'

The eyes snapped open, glowing to the same shade as the other, the fire easily being blown away.

Kouji chose that moment to come up in his sleeping clothes, eyes sharp and alert. 'What's going on?' he snapped.

Takuya grinned cockily at him. 'Mission success,' he sang, trying to score a hit. 'But I could use a little help.'

Kouji scowled, a little grouchy about the late disturbance, before whipping out his botuko and banishing it, before readying it into a fighting stance and calling for his own power.

But somehow, the darkness pushed them all back.

'Can someone tell me how light and fire are losing to darkness?' Takuya grunted, failing once again to hit with a scorching fire snake, the attack simply diverting and striking through the thin laser beam the other had made.

'If I knew, we wouldn't be losing,' the white wolf pointed out, giving the situation a critical eye. 'I wonder...can you make a large flash of light?'

'Sure,' the other agreed. 'I think.'

'Don't think. Just do.'

'Err...right.'

Takuya stopped a moment, before taking a deep breath and doing as the other had ordered him. The large flame suddenly sprung to life, so sudden and strong that the darkness all but vanished as Kouji attempted to reach past the physical barriers into the mental realm and Takuya waited for another opening...

...only it didn't work, as the doll simply vanished.

'Damn,' the brunette scowled, looking at the ash as the light in his eyes faded to its usual brown and the remuneration was paid, as soft and brief as he could make it. 'And it was going well too. I guess that possessor woke up.'

Kouji ignored him, looking at the ash himself, spotting something the other hadn't as the lamp above them flicked on again, before kneeling in the ring and picking something up.

'Hey.' Takuya blinked, realising what the object he held was. 'That's-'

'Yeah.' He sounded surprised, barely believing. 'It's Ni-san's doll.'

* * *

'Good work,' Ao complimented, once they reported back the following morning (after Takuya got scolded for being back exceptionally late). 'Both of you.'

Kouji simply nodded, but Takuya wasn't done.

'I had a question,' he said.

'Shoot.'

'The legend about the Warrior Ten? Dusk said you knew about it.'

Ao sighed. 'It's a long story,' he admitted. 'And more of a fool's errand. It's actually not a legend, just called one. It's more of a prophecy, and very few know about it, much less believe.'

He paused, twisting his blonde hair before sighing again. 'It tells of ten contractors, each having control of one of the ten basic elements: fire, ice, wind, thunder, wood, water, steel, earth, light and darkness. The problem is that most powers are vague. There are, for example, there are a multitude of pyrokinetics and electricity controllers, but these ten have something special.'

He looked at Kouji here as he said this. 'This is why I requested Kouji be under my division after the Heaven's War. He has a control over light that no other contractor has.'

Kouji simply frowned. 'Is that why both the Syndicate and the Association were after him?' He jerked his head at Takuya. 'They think he's the fire element.'

'Yes,' their commander sighed. 'Kashiwagi Mai certainly was not; her control simply goes to combusting oxygen and carbon dioxide in air, but you're own power has already surpassed that. But if this Association is chasing after a myth, then...'

He frowned slightly, before dropping the topic.

'Before you're dismissed,' he said. 'Kanbara-kun-'

'Takuya,' he automatically corrected.

'Takuya then. There are two members of this division that you will need to know, seeing as you've already met Haiiro. Akane, whom I believe Kouji-kun here has already mentioned, is a healer Contractor.' He gestured at the woman who had just come in with tea and cake. 'And-'

He was cut off by a knock on the door.

'Right on time,' he noted. 'Come in.'

As the knocker walked in, he continued his introduction. 'This is Ka-ne-jon. Our wind controller'

Kouji wasn't surprised, though a little annoyed, having already known the girl for years, but Takuya was gaping at the blonde from his class.

'Y-you're-'

Orimoto Izumi smirked at him. 'You know,' she laughed. 'Generally speaking, we can never shut you up.'

'Is there any reason why _she_ couldn't babysit Kanbara-kun?' Kouji asked.

'Actually, yes.' It seemed Ao was in a far better mood than the previous day. 'I had hoped he could get you out of your shell. What I didn't expect was the drop in performance.'

He would have growled, but the sharp glare stopped him.

* * *

**Author's notes**

All right, let's see. Notes for this chapter.

I haven't mentioned Ao's ability yet, have I? He specialises with computer software, specifically the binary code which is the basis of everything computer related. Real handy in some cases, completely useless in others.

Ka-ne-jon is the Japanese word for carnation, which is a shade of pink. Izumi's code name. And if you remember, I introduced her in the first episode. Just not as a Contractor.

What Dusk was checking on was the extent of Takuya's powers. And he didn't exactly get caught seeing as he was with Takuya at the time, but it's still too risky for him to follow Kouji around anymore for awhile.

I don't think there's anything else.

**Up next:** Wings Spread Wide. Hopefully not another three part episode.


	8. Wings Spread Wide Part 1

**Author's Notes**

Sorry for the late update. This episode just wasn't working for me. Every time I wrote it in my head, it fell off a cliff to be honest. But now here's part one.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

By the way, anyone who hasn't voted on the new poll, it's still open for you guys to pick which story you want updated regularly after my shrinking list on the profile is done. This fic is in the running.

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 7 – ****Wings Spread Wide (Part 1)**

Orimoto Izumi let her long blonde hair fly freely in the breeze as she locked the door to her lone apartment behind her, slipping the key into an inner pocket of her rose pink jacket, her hand blindly groping through the black trench coat that hid her clothing and in part, her form. She had traded her lavender outfit for something warmer and more tame; every girl knew how much hassle strong bursts of winds caused with a skirt of any size, so she had chosen a warm, tight fitting jacket and tracksuit pant pair, the former several shades lighter than the latter but both containing three stripes down either side of the opposing colour. Normally, she would leave her apartment at this time every day, so no-one else saw anything out of the ordinary, least of all the old woman hanging out her washing on the rail above her. But this wasn't for school, like six out of the seven days of the week. Nor was it the shopping she did on Sundays, for necessities, and on occasion, a minor treat for herself.

At sixteen, she was actually rather well off as far as a single girl living alone was concerned. As far as everyone else knew (discounting her division of the Syndicate and who knew what other branches with their complex networking), she had a rather rich uncle in Denmark who sent her more than enough money to live by. That made her classmates, except for the one, now two, special cases, to alternate between jealousy, scorn and pity, the first for the freedom she had to do what she wished with her money, the second for the reason that she acted differently from them, not being of Japanese origin herself, leading others to take her heritage and "wealth" as a form of snootiness, and the last because she lived alone.

Five flights of stairs was no picnic, she noted to herself as she made her way to the stairwell at the end of the corridor. Her apartment happened to be one of the ones on the outskirt, so her door opened up to the streets five floors below. Half the others, like the one behind hers, opened up to a wall, which was hardly interesting. She much preferred her own position; it was high up so the air wasn't quite as polluted as ground level, and more importantly, it was part open to that air.

That was also the reason she detested elevators. She was however rather hesitant to say she was rather claustrophobic. No-one liked admitting weakness, and she was no different.

Today was though, she thought to herself as she made her way down. Not so different though. Because of her control over wind, she could travel further and faster than others in her division, and faster than a lot of the Syndicate in general. It was why their forces had to be so wide-spread, but when their particular division had begun grouping in Japan from the day the Heaven's Gate met its end, they had not considered the fact that part of their mission would take them out of the vicinity of the only remaining Gate: Hell's Gate.

Nor should they have had any reason to do so. The Association had only ever caused problems in Japan and South America, and their presence in the latter area had mysteriously vanished during or even before the Heaven's War. She remembered that war vividly; it was a nightmare she never wanted to go through again. Too many comrades had been lost, and a lot of the divisions had been reassigned. By then, her powers had tuned themselves to almost perfect control of the air currents, which had qualified her transfer to Japan and into Ao's division by his request.

And now she was to return to Italy because of the newfound presence of an important Association member…or so their Intel stated. The Doll network didn't stretch across countries; each Doll had his or her limitations after all. No, this Intel was from a Contractor who worked as a double-agent. To be honest, that alone bothered her somewhat, but she had given no reason for distrust. The other Contractor that is. Perhaps it was simply because the two girls didn't like each other very much. Akua had never liked her particularly, though the one and only time they had met was entirely by chance during the confusion of the Heaven's War. Ao had sent in a message on her transmitter once he noticed the conflict for her to about face, and it was only once they were individually settling into Japan did he explain the reason as to why.

Akua still contacted the HQ as far as she knew, providing enough information so they could try and keep a little ahead of the others, but she claimed she was simply not high enough in ranks to know much more herself, so they still didn't know the reason behind the madness. Until Takuya got a few answers out of the Doll Dusk.

It had been somewhat surprising. An amateur managed to wheedle out information experienced Contractors had failed to. But then again, it was a rather reckless amateur; it was rather surprising Dusk hadn't simply blown him off the map. But when she asked Ao about it, he informed her that Dusk's Contractor was still in partial control of…assuming, his, Doll, and that there was a past relation between him and Shiro. He refused to explain beyond that, but Burgundy had mentioned that the Contractor in question was the other's twin brother, which had come as quite a shock, before a sour glare shut him up.

She giggled a little at that. He was rather uptight; it was no wonder she made him uncomfortable. It wasn't like she meant to though, she mused, throwing a scarf over her head and hair while coming out on the ground floor and crossing the road after a quick scan. Their situations differed dramatically. She was simply estranged from her family. His were either dead or missing. It wasn't a complete choice, but this way, at least they were safe. Memories erased, they didn't even know about the daughter that had wiped them clear. They only knew the two little boys that ran around in their backyard. Perhaps she would see them in this trip. It was taking her quite close.

She stopped by a drug-store, looking through the assortment of hair dyes, before selecting the blonde that exactly matched her current hair colour. She stopped almost wistfully at the chestnut that resembled her natural colour, before passing it. She had left the real her behind. Her name, her family, and even the defining points of her appearance. Her hair dyed, her skin tanned in the Japan sun…even her eye colour had changed, but that had actually had nothing to do with anything save her maturation. Whatever it was, the old Alessandra "Alessa" D'Alimonte had vanished from the world as if she had never existed, and Orimoto Izumi was born. Funnily enough, when she, as an orphan from the Tokyo gas attack, had been found a foster home in the suburb of Izumi in the Suginami ward of Tokyo, she had just chosen to go along with the name, claiming amnesia. After half a year, she had moved down to Shibuya, closer to Ao, and transferred schools, claiming to those at her new school that she hadn't liked the old apartment very much. It was true, somewhat. They didn't have a railing system that opened up to the air, and she had been stuck somewhere in the inner ground floor. Talk about stale air. As for the 'Orimoto' part, "to weave a foundation", seeing as she was staring a whole new life with a whole new identity, even worse at twelve years of age, the name had attracted her. When her temporary "foster parents" had offered to adopt and give her theirs, she had refused, claiming her parents were still out there and she couldn't take on someone else's surname. She just claimed that one sounded "right", so the police assumed she was a daughter to a conveniently placed Orimoto couple, Naomi and Sasuke, who had died in the gas attack in the subway system.

She payed for her purchase and left, crossing the street again to cut through a park to a public toilet. She could have used the drug-store's one, but that would have been too suspicious. As luck would have it, a certain Kanbara Takuya was there, playing with his little brother. He waved her over, so she went.

'What's up?' he asked enthusiastically. Well, at least he was acting normal.

'Nothing much,' Izumi sighed. 'Just heading out to shop.'

'Urgh.' Takuya made a face. Evidently, he didn't like that particular necessity. Or maybe it was the real answer. 'And Kouji's been antisocial again, so I'm stuck with this little brat.'

'Ni-san,' Shinya whined.

'Relax kiddo,' the brunette sighed, messing up the other's hair. 'I was just kidding.'

The eleven year old pouted.

'Anything interesting?' the only female asked offhand, checking to see if there was any last minute detail she needed to know. She highly doubted the choice of this particular park was accidental. If she remembered correctly, there was another one, bigger and nearer to him.

Takuya grinned. 'Kouji's got girl troubles,' he said off hand. 'Again.'

She nodded, then hurriedly caught the ball that went flying towards her.

'Whoops?' the boy offered.

'Whatever,' Izumi snorted, tossing it back, but not before peeling off the paper stuck to it. 'You're just lucky I'm in a good mood.'

The brunette shrugged, looking none too worried. 'See ya later then. Don't want to still be shopping when the sun comes down.'

'No indeed.'

She continued on her way without any more interruptions, looking around before slipping into the vacant stall. Once there, she emptied the pockets of her trench coat. Two bottles of dye, one new, one used. A map. A bunch of notes, and her headset, which could pass for a hearing aid, which was their cover in any case.

She slipped the new dye bottle into the pocket of her tracksuit, where she had the folded up bills (she had only brought enough yen with her for the dye, the rest had been slowly exchanged), and a multi-function pocket knife. She never had blood on that blade though, she much preferred the blow away and run option, but when push came to shove, she had two pistols around her waist and a reload of bullets in the other pocket.

It didn't take her long to dye her hair. A rather strong red; it may make her stand out in Japan, but it wouldn't be a problem in Italy. Besides, she didn't want anyone recognising her, because she knew quite well the Association were looking for her as well, because of her control over wind. As far as they knew however, it was the pale red head (thanks to some powder, mascara and blush, all in her trench-coat pocket as well) who was Ka-ne-jon, not the dyed blonde. As for the green eyes, she carefully slid in brown contacts. Even in the chaotic Heaven's War; she tried not to be caught unawares, but in the few times she had been, a little bit of martial arts and good-timed yelling got her out of the jams, then Ka-ne-jon dealt with them moments later. It was a hassle carrying it all around, but then again, a lot of girls carried make-up, and as for the dyes, she changed the bottles. "Medication". Forget the fact that she was as healthy as a cucumber, save a little lonely at times.

She had chosen that particular facility for another reason as well. The window. That way, she wouldn't be seen, because once she got a strong wind going, she could move almost without being seen.

Her eyes glowed red and the blue telepathic outline surrounded her body. From the open window, she could hear the slow change taking effect. In minutes, the gentle breeze had turned into a vicious gust.

A small kick of her feet, and she dove right into it, letting the winds carry her high up into the clouds, leaving the trench-coat behind with the door unlatched. She noted a child come in and grab it. Haiiro.

Soon after, she was flying freely just above the clouds, thankful her wind kept her safe from the harsher atmospheric weather while enjoying the sensation of being totally free. She loved the feeling of gliding through the air, as the sudden storm in Shibuya calmed down.

It took her a few hours to fly over to Syracuse in Sicily, her pit stop. She searched around for a deserted place, then touched down behind the church of San Paolo.

It felt odd returning home as a stranger. But there was a war. She prayed constantly that it would end soon; she would gladly give up her command of the wind if it meant she could be a part of her family again. Or so she had years ago. She was getting too old now. She couldn't live with her family again at sixteen after so many years apart. She would be better off getting married. Not that she had any intention whatsoever of doing such a thing.

The streets of Syracuse hadn't changed much. It was a rather populated place, but there were plenty more crowded places in Italy, so it wasn't the worse. The ancient temples of Zeus and Apollo was nearby, so it made for a hot tourist location. And the fountain of Arethusa, and Archimede's tomb.

She bypassed all of them, entering a factory. 'Hi,' she said brightly to the clerk at reception.

'Do you have an appointment ma'am?' the older woman asked calmly. She was probably used to people turning up to badger her.

Izumi grinned. She knew Ao had made one for her. Under an alias of course. 'Of course,' she answered smoothly. She was posing in work-check. The place was a factory of course. Nothing out of the ordinary. 'Nicola Giordano.'

The receptionist quickly scanned over the list, before nodding. 'Ah yes, Signor Babocci is waiting for you.'

'Grazie,' the other replied, heading in the direction pointed out to her.

The meeting took a few hours. That was, because as the CEO was concerned, a work-check meeting, which meant there was quite a bit to go through. He had raised an eyebrow at her apparent young age, but she had slipped off her tracksuit to reveal a white blouse and work pants, and traded her more comfortable sneakers for the more formal shoes she had purchased at the supermarket, and with the makeup on her face, she looked at least nineteen or twenty. Still albeit rather young, but old enough to give off a professional expression, and best of all, not sixteen and a legal child.

She took careful note of all the workers, committing them to memory so she could send a report and the records could be cross-referenced. A few in particular caught her eye, including an eighteen year old completing his apprenticeship in the factory.

'There was a problem with the original supervisor,' Signor Babocci explained to her. 'It was unclear who was telling the truth and who not, but we could not allow an alleged-' He broke off and whispered the next word, before continuing normally, 'to supervise over an eighteen year old. You see what I mean, don't you?'

'Oh yes,' "Nicola" assured, jotting down the note. 'His name?'

'Durante De Sole.'

'And the one who made the complaint?'

'Eligo Curatolo.'

She carefully took down both names, making a mental note to pay a visit to the first and get their story. She generally had good intuition, and there must be some clue. Because a sudden complaint as soon as an apprentice shows up was rather odd. Especially since there had been many more where no problems had been raised.

She also noticed some of the other electricians were playing a little too much attention to the male, and she thought he noticed it too. If she wasn't in company at the present time, she would blow away their shirt collars and look for the mark that defined them as a part of the Association, but unfortunately, she would have to wait.

'Hey, cutie,' one of them yelled out to her, causing the rest to stare in shock. 'Come join us for a drink after work.'

The man next to him chortled. 'Over Fulvia are we.'

'She was a bitch.'

She regarded the men. Normally, she wouldn't go out with someone like that if they were the last male species on earth, but it would be a good opportunity to find out what they were up to. Drunk people tended to be rather vulnerable. Chances were, he wouldn't even notice a precautious check on his collar bone if he was wasted enough.

'You've got yourself a deal,' she said coolly. She'll just slip the toner tablets into the drinks. Couldn't get herself wasted now could she? Especially since she was technically underage.

The eighteen year old looked curiously at her too, but said nothing. Clearly, he disapproved of his workmates' behaviour, especially when they went back to their work, talking softly a little inappropriately all the same. She had good hearing. Her companion evidently didn't.

'How long have they been here?' she asked.

'Not long,' the other guy muttered, disgruntled. 'Had a bit of a mutiny last month. You know these things are.'

She nodded, making a few more notes. 'You certainly take the safety of your men seriously.'

'Of course,' the other said, trying not to sound insulted. It was her "job" after all.

'Grazie, "Nicola" said again. 'I'll send over the results in a few days.'

'It was a pleasure,' the older man replied, as she doomed herself to 'hanging around' till the shift ended. It was a good thing the CEO was old enough to be her grandfather, she mused, rather annoyed. One of the annoying things about being female, there tended to be those of the opposite sex looking for physical attraction.

The scowl deepened, before fading into an evil sort of smile. Well, let them try anything. They wouldn't get far.

She reconsidered her initial decision when looking at the clock. There was plenty of time, if the shifts let out at nine. She could easily pay Signor Durante De Sole a visit.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Akua is the Japanese form of the colour aqua. The codename for the girl masquerading as Ranamon (normally Chiaki but that's not important when we're not using real names at the moment).

Alessa is the pet name for Alessandra, which is an Italian name meaning "defender of mankind".

D'alimonte is an Italian surname meaning "coming from the mountain"

The reason I gave Izumi a different "real" name is because members from the syndicate don't use their real names when living undercover. Hence why Hei goes as Li Shungshen (who knows what his real name is). There are special cases such as Takuya (and Mai in the anime) who are sort of stuck with the identity if they're staying in the same area, and Kouji who for his own reasons chose to use his real name in Japan. That was actually rather dangerous on his part, but he's also got a very dangerous reputation so it's all cool. Then they all have their code names. Another special case will show up in the next episode.

The Heaven's War took place five years before current time. Remember when I mentioned there was two gates? The Heaven's Gate was sealed off permanently in this war, as was part of South America.

Toner tablets. No idea if they exist, but its function is to take the intoxicative effect out of alcohol.


	9. Wings Spread Wide Part 2

**Author's Notes**

A refresh, in case anyone's forgotten. Because "Izumi" is undercover in this episode and not in Japan, she's going by the alias "Nicola". In Japan, she'll be going as Izumi. As far as she's concerned, Alessa/Alessandra is dead, so she'll also go by Izumi in most other situations.

Yay, a two parter this time. Those three parters got a little tiring.

You'll notice all the Warrior Ten have Messier Codes LW2-. Not all LW2- are the Warrior ten though.

Up next: Frozen Ice. And the first character death (discounting minor nameless grunts).

* * *

**Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)**

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 8 – ****Wings Spread Wide (Part 2)**

Nicola stared at herself in the full length mirror. She hadn't brought anything to wear for a night out. To be honest, she hadn't brought anything much except the professional outfit under the climate-controlled track suit, some money, the blonde dye to fix her hair by the time she got back home, the communicator and the memory eraser, and her weapons ideally hidden but within quick reach. Point was, what she had on now wouldn't go down to well in a pub.

She fiddled around in her pockets, pulling out the wad of bills before shuffling through it, wondering whether she should get a one night casual or get something nice and take it back with her. In the end, she decided on the former; wouldn't want her spoils getting spoilt while on the job.

Shopping was always a two way experience. There were times when it was entertaining, and there were times like this where she wanted it done as soon as possible. She settled on a red knee height dress in about five minutes, grabbing a pair of heels along the way. They weren't practical, but she could fight quite well in them. She had to; you never knew what you would be wearing when you needed to defend yourself.

While paying for her purchases in fluent Italian, she thought about the worker she had paid a visit to. It turned out the suspicions about the claim had been well marked; he had a rather honest reputation that was brought down by a new worker. He could have won the case, but to avoid conflict, he chose to stand down from his job as a senior worker. 'In any case,' he had said somewhat sadly. 'I'm getting too old for this.'

She still had about an hour, so she found a noisy corner (harder to be overheard) and contacted Ao.

'What have you found?' was his immediate response.

'Nothing definite,' she responded. 'But I found and validated a few suspicions. New eighteen year old apprentice. Regular supervisor dismissed for inappropriate behaviour by a newcomer's claim. A mutiny which caused a rewrite in the same field. A pretty sloppy job to be honest.'

'Give me the names,' he commanded.

She did so, and in minutes, he had results.

'Shibayama Junpei. Eighteen years old. He's registered as a Contractor. LW238. Power: electricity. Goodness knows we have enough of those.'

'What's so interesting about this guy then?' the brunette turned blonde turned redhead had to wonder. 'Unless they think he's one of the ten.'

'Perhaps. Akua isn't quite sure.'

'Shiro doesn't trust her,' Ka-n-jon said quietly. 'How do you know she isn't hiding something?'

'Neither do you. But she has given us no reason to distrust her.'

'Perhaps,' Izumi said quietly. 'But I feel like this is a little too easy. Perhaps Burgandy was easier thanks to that Doll's slip up, but _this_ shouldn't be this easy. They wouldn't just sent grunts after one of the ten, unless they knew we would never side with them and are just wearing us down.'

'Well, Shiro's having a field night with them,' Ao said dryly. 'If that's the case, they'll run out of grunts eventually. None of the others you mentioned register as a Contractor or any form of a noticeable person, although they're split between Asian and American origin.'

'Probably grunts,' Izumi sighed. 'What are the orders?'

'The usual,' came the reply. 'But see to that electricity Contractor. If he proves to have a better control of electricity than most you've seen, bring him back with you.'

'What about Shiro's friend?' she asked.

'BK201. Code name: Hei.' Ao sounded like he was reading from the computer data, which he perhaps was. 'Ability: molecule manipulation. His power doesn't exclusively focus on electricity. There was another however that was killed yesterday with far inferior powers. We're looking for something else Ka-ne-jon.'

'Understood.' She looked around. Nobody seemed to have noticed the conversation through the constant buzz of noise. 'Later.'

She switched out of the channel she was in, leaving it on in case of emergency information, before looking at the clock. Still fifteen minutes, and it never hurt to make a guy wait. At this time, her two little brothers would be playing around in the back yard after dinner.

She really did want to go see them, but she knew she would not be able to tear herself away if she did. She saw them fleetingly as she had flown above, and that was enough to content her until this war was over. Even if it would undoubtedly kill her in the end. Because humans and Contractors would always be at war against each other, and it wouldn't end until one race was dead. They were much more vulnerable. Hunted. Murderers. Killing machines. And the Gate that could destroy them all, sitting in Tokyo. The Gate that scientists all over the world were attempting to destroy. Including this Association, or so it was suspected. They were just after a more flimsy approach than most would consider to be science, basing their search and approach on a legend as opposed to factual knowledge. Ten elements, when combined, having the power to destroy or recreate the world.

Of course, she mused, slipping through the crowd and ignoring the cat-calls because of her high cut dress. That also depended on your definition of the world 'world.'

Someone waved her over, and she slipped into the tiny spot left for her by the worker that initially invited her. It was unfortunately rather small, but she dealt with it, even though it was half on the guy's lap with one slightly wasted arm around her.

'Hey there beautiful,' he said, voice barely slurring. 'Hey!' he shouted louder at a passing waitress. 'How about some more drinks, on me.'

The waitress brought them over, and she took one, slipping the tablet in quickly before taking a sip, savouring the mix of sweet and sour that flooded her mouth. She did a quick scan. Yep, all the workers were here. Including the apprentice who looked a little intimidated by the company, and a lot more uncomfortable, wedged into a corner from which she could barely see him. She wondered if that was intentional.

The first half hour passed without any incident as everybody got more and more drunk, except Nicola herself, and as she noted, Junpei. He had simply taken the same cup of coke and was sipping it. A wise move she thought. Perhaps he was suspecting something too. They had danced a bit, revealing, as she had expected, the tattooed symbol on each collar bone.

Things fell apart soon after that though. It started when the guy next to her got closer than she could even pretend to be comfortable with.

'Do you mind?' she said, a little irritated.

'Playing hard to get?' the other slurred.

She really hated this part. And she was supposed to be an emotionless Contractor. It appeared Ao had a rather dysfunctional team when it came to that aspect. He was probably the only one who actually believed, and she had to wonder sometimes if it was wishful thinking.

The guy really didn't get the hint though. Though she had managed to wheedle the information she needed out. Keeping an abnormally close eye on someone.

'Not at all,' Nicola said smoothly, standing up and slipping out of the booth. 'Might I ask as to your interest in a certain apprentice though.' She stole a glance at the boy, before faking a yaoi fan-girl scream. 'Trying to make your crush jealous?'

The man was apparently sane enough to know the correct answer. 'Hell no,' he scowled. 'Orders.'

'From who?' she asked innocently, dancing around him, irritating him further but being entrancing all the same.

'A woman,' the other slurred, coming closer still. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Junpei stand up. 'Pretty like you. Blue hair and eyes.'

Only one person she knew matched that, but they could be as fake as her own fiery red. However, the man suddenly gave a small scream and slumped into her, blood leaking from the side of his mouth.

'Demon,' one of the others howled, completely stoned and seeing literally only red, leaping at her, before a sudden discharge of electricity knocked him away along with a bullet to the head. The discharge had come from the apprentice, brown eyes glowing red as his mark for Contractor power. The bullet had come from her.

Both froze, staring at each other, before pandemonium broke loose. The bartender roared in anger at the fight going on in the bar, but he was ignored in favour of the woman and man pitted against the onslaught. Bullets were of no match to the electricity that shot through the air at them, aided by the air itself as both enveloped in their blue auras. Between them, it took barely any time at all to dispatch them, the final move frying them beyond recognition.

The bartender gaped in shock, along with the remaining visitors as the red haired woman turned on them, holding something in her hands.

'Forget,' she said calmly, firing the laser into the air and manipulating its path, splitting it amongst all those who stood or sat there, releasing them from the burden of remembrance in a single shot.

Junpei turned to him. 'Why are you here?'

'Apparently protecting you,' Nicola replied, tucking the eraser away and kneeling down in front of the first body, before digging into her pockets and frowning. 'Dammit. Need food.'

The other tossed her a chocolate bar, which she devoured without another breath before giving her thanks.

'Remuneration,' she explained to the odd look.

'Ah,' Junpei nodded, coming back to her. He had moved away for a moment to an unconscious waiter, but whatever he had done, she had not seen. 'You didn't kill him.'

'No, and I take it you didn't either?'

'No.'

Both of them looked at the body, blood still slightly dripping. 'Who did then?'

The woman looked around. Shattered wine glasses littered the floor, along with the charred bodies swimming in blood or wine. Some had asphyxiated, thanks to her wind, others had been electrocuted due to the electricity. No-one else had a death like that, nor was there anyone else there.

Junpei, still staring at the dead bodies, suddenly noted the wine shifting. That was the only warning he had, before it suddenly lashed straight for Nicola.

His startled cry alerted her, and she whipped it away with a blast of wind. Or tried to; apparently, their mysterious attacker had anticipated that, shooting water out of something that looked like an advanced model of a water gun, which with the force of an ocean's grip, descended upon the other female.

Junpei almost started up his electricity, before remembering water was a conductor. He couldn't even produce the smallest of sparks, because with his attention elsewhere, the water had spread to touch his toes.

'Good,' a female's voice said, its owner walking into view. 'Here I have you both, at my mercy.'

'You,' Nicola hissed, arching her head around the water trying to force itself into her mouth. 'Akua.'

She grinned, blue eyes staring coldly and sky hair shimmering in the night sky.

'I knew you couldn't be trusted.'

'No you didn't,' the other smirked. 'You only remembered a ghost of our life before the change and based your assumption on that. This is your fault in any case.'

'My fault?'

Junpei watched the two women, at a complete loss. It was obvious the one with blue hair and eyes was the commander of those grunts that had made his life hell at his apprenticeship and had been ordered to constantly watch him. He had a hunch Nicola had spiked up the drinks, because they were usually more careful than that; he had watched them closely, looking for an escape.

The pretty face suddenly twisted into a scowl. 'You forgot,' she spat. 'But I remember what you did. I'll never trust you, nor anyone who puts their trust in you. And the only reason you are alive now is because I was ordered not to kill you…yet. But make no mistake. I will still make you pay.'

The blue eyes narrowed at the other's. 'You may have thought you were all so innocent,' she spat. 'But I don't forget. You destroyed my family. And the only reason I haven't destroyed yours is because they don't deserve to perish for a monster like you. You've abandoned them, just like you abandoned the consequences of your tongue, so it is you and you alone that will pay.'

The water had forced its way through her nostrils and mouth, clogging up her senses and causing her head to spin.

'I laid the bait,' Akua continued. 'And sure enough, you came flying. Now I've got two of the Warrior Ten to deliver to the Master.'

'Not quite,' Junpei yelled, sending the electricity to his feet quickly enough to cause himself to vanish into the suddenly evaporated water. The energy used up, the signal was propagated no further.

Hissing, she tightened her grip on the remaining, but to no avail. In her preoccupation with the more dangerous one, she had left the one defenceless against her power. Even while the other's consciousness wavered, electricity charged through a chair tossed at her, knocking her off her feet in the smoke and causing her power to release its grip.

Nicola coughed weakly, before sending a gust at the furious other who retaliated with water. This time, the two brought a stalemate, with the third shooting electricity through the air. Akua dodged it however, leaping outside into the open air and coaxing the heavens to aid her. Ka-ne-jon's gust battled the call for rain as the two opposable forces brought a storm that kept all others indoors.

Junpei's electricity was essentially useless with everything flying around. He could hit the wrong person and never know it.

Why he was helping, he didn't really know for sure; he just felt he should. The blue one had tried to kill, or capture, him, but the other had come to help. That was reason enough, and he was generally good at first impressions. That might not be the whole truth, but it was close enough as far as he was concerned.

Besides, it wasn't like there was a third option.

Inside, he noticed an eye in the glass, and send electricity shooting around all the shards. In minutes, it built up enough voltage to reduce them all into fragments of dust, its shiny surfaces non-existent. The eye then reappeared in the droplets of water being ripped apart.

'Nicola!' He yelled over the gales. 'The water! There're eyes in them!'

Nicola heard him, staring into the drops and noting that herself. In an instant, she drew back her storm, raising it instead as a barrier separating the water from herself and her companion. 'Shock it,' she instructed.

He did so, willing the electrons to vibrate down that length and generating enough current to shoot across the watery surface. Akua shrieked as the electricity shot up her legs…but that wasn't its main goal. The water, excited to such an extent, was been forced apart into the two more volatile molecules that had constituted it, and a little spark further was enough to cause the hydrogen to combust.

With that shield between them, Nicola picked Junpei up and with a swirl of gust, kicked off into the air, shooting through the smoke and quickly to the place where she had hidden her clothes. 'If you have something you need to do,' she said quickly to the other. 'Do it now. We're leaving.'

'Nothing,' the other said as his female companion rapidly changed out of her ruined outfit and into something more climate controlled. 'My family are in Japan.'

Nicola looked at him. 'You don't sound surprised.'

'I should be,' the other admitted. 'But after killing so much, it doesn't seem to matter anymore without some sort of a cause. I'm going nowhere.'

'Then come with me,' the other said softly, offering a hand. 'We're trying to make a future where it is whole. Our lives. Humans and Contractors together. Where we don't have to survive by killing or being killed.'

He thought for a moment, then nodded. 'Count me in.' He handed her another bar. 'Your remuneration?'

She nodded in thanks and polished it off. 'Eating anything,' she explained. 'I'd rather it be edible though.'

She looked at him, who was sweating slightly. 'And yours?'

'Promise you won't hit me,' the other said quickly, but before the woman could react, he had kissed her. Full on the lips.

She reacted instantly and slapped him before the implications hit. 'Your remuneration?'

'Yes. Unfortunately.'

She felt movement beneath her feet. 'There's no water in here,' she said slowly. 'But there is the vapour in the air. And we're sitting ducks. We should leave.'

'And go where?'

'Japan.'

Her eyes glowed red again, and she called the wind to carry them high into the skies where there was no water. The cocoon that enveloped them contained enough oxygen, and below her was the reserve she could call upon. Water would have to be as scarce as possible, reflective water to be precise; blood she thought wasn't one of those.

Who had those eyes belonged to? A Contractor, or a Doll? And why had Akua turned on them? She remembered nothing of what the other claimed. And what was so important about the ten, now six if they could count the mysteriously missing brother of Kouji's based on his walking Doll, written in the legend.

And why did it feel so natural to have Shibayama Junpei in her hold? Why did it feel so natural around Takuya and Kouji? What was their connection? What was there role in the larger story?

'You think she'll leave us alone Nicola?' Junpei yelled over the winds.

'She'll have to,' the other replied. 'She won't be able to fight us all at once, especially with four still missing. She can't risk it. And she knows that backup will come swiftly if she attacks one of the team on their home base.' She paused for a moment, before remembering something. 'In Japan, it's Orimoto Izumi.'

The other understood the alias quickly. 'Then your real name.'

Another pause. 'That girl is dead. It does not matter.'

* * *

Ao frowned. 'Are you sure?' he persisted. 'It was definitely Akua's doing.'

'Yes,' the returned blonde growled, visibly annoyed by the constant pestering. 'We got a confession from one of the grunts. We saw her. We fought her, and her attacks match.'

He sighed. 'We've lost any advantage we had then over this Association. From here on in, we're walking practically blind.'

'Not quite,' Akane rebuked, sipping from a cup of green tea after healing Izumi…after scolding her for flying so far after almost effectively drowning. She wasn't even quite sure how she had managed to stay conscious that long, but her dominion over air must have been a major contributor. 'We have some knowledge. And now we know two more of the Warrior Ten.'

'One of whom is in the enemy's grasp,' Ao muttered. 'Which makes me wonder how many else are there? There's also that contractor whose abilities focus on steel and reflections. LW294. That leaves three, perhaps four if Dusk's maker is not one of the ten like we're assuming.'

'What's so important?' Takuya asked from his perch. Kouji was busy with something else. 'You still haven't told us the story.'

Ao rubbed his forehead. 'That's because I don't know it all. There are ten elements: light, darkness, fire, metal, water, wind, lightning or thunder, ice, wood and earth. It's said that whoever controls them all possesses the power to create or destroy the entire world. However the Warrior Ten talked about in the legend are ten separate people, so no-one can see how it is even possible.'

'We believe it though,' the blonde healer said quietly, finishing her tea. 'From young I have heard the tale. They are also said to be the creators of the universe. Between these ten elements came life as we know it. And when the Gate opened, we wondered if these ten would come about amongst the ruins of the world deteriorating, as they did in the legend.'

'But it is incomplete, and rather useless,' Ao said, a little harshly. 'In any case, even if such a miracle was to come about, it would destroy us all. I'm more interested in finding these Warrior Ten before the Association uses them for their own means. Even alone, they have enormous control over their elements and are a force to be reckoned with.'

They each knew that. They had that power themselves. And they had seen it in action. And legend or no legend, it was still a force to be reckoned with.


End file.
